Morningside  College 


Morningside  College 
Bulletin 

Vol.  X December,  1910 — Supplement  No.  3 
WWSS1TY  W ILLINOIS 


Entered  December  30,  1901,  at  Sioux  City,  Iowa,  as  Second 
Class  Matter,  Under  Act  of  Congress,  July  16,  1894. 
Published  Quarterly  by  Morningside  College. 


/" 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 


PRESIDENT’S  OFF1CB* 


Sty?  ilttataUaium 

OF 

Eutlffr  Jfmrnan,  1. 1. 

AS  PRESIDENT  OF 

HflrtttttgHtite  (Eollrg? 


THE  NINETEENTH  DAY  OF  OCTOBER 


NINETEEN  HUNDRED  AND  TEN 


i!ontttt0  flragera 

(3hf  (Cljapfl,  0:30  A.  US. 


jtettaaum 

OF  THE 

(©ffirial  Qkwata,  Allergy,  Sruateea,  JKarully, 
Alumni,  anb  Uepreaenlalitrea  uf 
tlfp  #tubenla 

10:15  A.  M. 


Inauguration  Exercises 


©riipr  nf  ProrfBuunt 

Professor  Henry  Frederick  Kanthlener 

CHIEF  MARSHAL 

SECTION  I. 

Alumni  and  Seniors. 

Professor  Frank  Harmon  Garver,  Marshal. 

SECTION  II. 

Members  of  Northwest  Iowa  Conference  and  other 
Visiting  Clergymen. 

Professor  Ephenor  Adrastus  Brown,  Marshal. 

SECTION  III. 

The  Trustees. 

Professor  Harold  Stiles,  Marshal. 

SECTION  IV. 

The  Faculty. 

Professor  Charles  Aimer  Marsh,  Marshal. 

SECTION  V. 

Representatives  of  the  Colleges  and  Universities. 
Professor  Thomas  Calderwood  Stephens,  Marshal. 

SECTION  VI. 

The  Governor  and  other  Public  Officials,  Representatives 
of  the  Press. 

Professor  Fred  Emory  Haynes,  Marshal. 

SECTION  VII. 

Presidential  Group. 

The  Dean  of  the  Faculty, 

The  Reverend  William  Campbell  Wasser,  Ph.  D., 

The  Reverend  Bishop  William  Frazer  McDowell,  LL.  D., 
The  President-Emeritus  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
The  Reverend  Charles  Macaulay  Stuart,  Litt.  D., 

The  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 

The  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 

The  Reverend  James  Lewis  Gillies, 

The  President-Elect. 


©Ijr  inauguration 

(krare  HtUyniial  Eptsropal  CCIjurrlj 
10:30  A.  fH. 


REV.  CHARLES  MACAULAY  STUART, 
D.  D„  Litt.  D„  I.I..  D.,  PRESIDING 


Morningside  College 


Sonata — C Minor Felix  Mendelssohn 

Organ  Prelude — 

Choral  Song  and  Fugue S.  S.  Wesley 

Mr.  Herbert  Macfarren,  A.  R.  A.  M. 

Processional  Hymn — Holy,  Holy,  Holy. 

INVOCATION — Reverend  Bennett  Mitchell,  D.  D. 
Dr.  Mitchell: 

Holy,  Holy  and  Merciful  God,  we  bow  in  humble 
reverence  before  Thee  with  chastened  spirits.  We  are  in 
the  midst  of  a shadow,  a great  shadow,  that  has  fallen 
upon  us  by  the  death  of  one  whom  we  expected  to  be 
with  us ; one  upon  whom  we  were  wont  to  lean  for  sup- 
port and  to  whom  we  often  went  for  counsel. 

Thou  hast  taken  him,  our  spirits  are  chastened,  yet  we 
are  not  cast  down.  The  density  of  the  shadow  in  which 
we  stand  proclaims  that  there  is  light  beyond  it,  and  our 
faith  claims  Thou  art  in  this  mysterious  providence.  Oh 
Lord,  we  can  not  proceed  with  these  services  without  a 
fresh  token  of  thy  blessing;  thou  who  didst  redeem  us 
by  the  death  of  thy  son  and  with  Him  didst  also  freely 
give  us  all  things,  give  us  now  a token  of  thy  love.  We 
beseech  thee  to  bless  Morningside  College ; the  students, 
the  faculty,  the  trustees,  all  its  patrons  and  friends ; and 
bless  these,  thy  servants  who  have  come  from  other  in- 
stitutions of  learning  to  participate  in  these  services. 
Especially  we  pray  thee  to  bless  him  who  is  now  about 
to  be  inducted  into  the  high,  holy  and  most  important 
office  of  President  of  the  College.  Give  him  wisdom, 


Inauguration  Exercises 


courage,  tenderness,  and  strength,  and  forbearance,  and 
firmness,  and  love,  and  tactfulness  for  his  office. 

Now,  great  God  come  and  bless  us,  for  Jesus'  sake, 
Amen ! 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME— Dean  Sidney  L.  Chand- 
ler, A.  M. 

Dr.  Charles  M.  Stuart : 

You  will,  I know,  suffer  a word  of  personal  ex- 
planation. 

I would  not  do  an  injustice  to  a good  man  who  never 
did  me  an  injury  in  my  life,  and,  moreover,  as  I can  not 
tell  a lie — that  is,  I could,  but  I will  not — I am  not  Bishop 
Nuelsen.  Bishop  Nuelsen  was  unavoidably  detained, 
and  your  President  drafted  the  first  comer  into  service 
and  asked  me  to  preside.  The  function  of  this  office,  of 
course,  is  very  simple  and  I begin  it  with  the  very  pleas- 
ant announcement  that  the  address  of  welcome  will  be 
given  by  the  Dean  of  the  College,  Professor  Chandler. 

Dean  Chandler: 

Official  representatives  of  institutions  of  learning, 
friends  of  Morningside  College,  lovers  of  education  in 
the  broadest  sense,  it  is,  indeed,  a pleasurable  task  to 
voice  the  welcome,  the  hearty  welcome,  felt  by  Morning- 
side  College  towards  your  coming  this  day. 

You  have  come  from  Harvard  and  Yale,  Columbia 
and  Chicago,  Northwestern  and  Boston,  Cornell  and 
Grinnell,  the  state  universities  and  the  splendid  colleges 
of  this  great  country,  to  be  present  with  us.  To  us,  at 
least,  this  is  a most  memorable  hour.  Did  I say  you  have 
come  from  them?  Rather,  you  have  brought  these  note- 


Morningside  College 


able  institutions  to  us,  for  a college  is  not  a physical  phe- 
nomenon, but  a spirit,  a real  being,  and  you  have  brought 
that  treasure  of  wealth  and  learning  and  character  that 
is  represented  by  historic  building,  and  lovely  campus, 
and  millions  of  endowment  you  may  represent.  The 
great  thing  is  this  spiritual  wealth;  myriads  of  teachers, 
multitudes  of  students,  centuries  of  achievements,  in  the 
aggregate  a millenium  of  light,  is  represented  by  you 
here  at  this  time,  and  it  is  a great  favor  and  a great  honor 
that  you  are  to  be  with  us  now. 

When  the  trustees  of  this  institution,  with  careful 
thought,  long  searching  and  trying  out  the  quality  of 
many  splendid  men,  looking  for  a successor  to  that  great 
man,  Wilson  Seeley  Lewis,  who  for  twelve  years  had 
led  us  to  such  victory  after  victory,  from  all  these  splen- 
did men  of  letters  and  men  of  affairs,  they  fixed  their 
choice  on  one — Luther  Freeman.  No  sooner  did  he  ap- 
pear upon  the  campus,  greet  the  faculty  and  student 
body,  and  the  people  throughout  this  magnificent  ter- 
ritory, than  the  same  marvelous  qualities  which  had  so 
impressed  the  Board  of  Trustees,  made  an  overwhelming 
impression  for  him,  for  the  college,  for  education  and 
righteousness  upon  the  hearts  of  the  people.  But  it  is 
not  to  honor  Luther  Freeman;  it  is  not — we  might  re- 
peat the  names  of  some  of  these  distinguished  ones  who 
are  here — that  you  personally  may  honor  him  in  this 
hour;  but  it  is  that  you,  representing  all  the  splendid 
mysteries  of  learning  and  in  a sense,  all  the  education 
of  the  world,  are  here  to  join  with  us  in  formally  an- 
nouncing that  Morningside  College — Trustees,  Faculty, 
Students  and  Friends — are  formally  inaugurating  their 
President.  It  is,  therefore,  more  an  impersonal  and  vital 


Inauguration  Exercises 


matter  than  it  is  one  of  personality,  however  much  that 
may  enter  into  it. 

One  word  as  to  the  hosts.  You  have  already  ob- 
served we  are  not  expert  in  the  matter  of  parade ; that 
there  are  some  splendid  things  we  do  not  do  skillfully, 
and  you  will  pardon  us,  for  we  are  the  youngest  of  all  the 
colleges ; and  as  a young  college  in  a new  state,  in  a new 
land,  you,  with  your  heights  of  distinction  fully  attained, 
will  bear  with  us  in  that  particular.  We  know  you  will 
not  judge  us  by  our  lack  in  these  things. 

A decade  ago  the  dark  hour  came  when  all  the  world 
fixed  its  attention  upon  one  spot  in  China,  where  mil- 
lions of  furious  pagans  were  bound  to  destroy  every  ele- 
ment of  modern  civilization  that  was  in  that  land.  Then 
that  son  of  Iowa,  Mr.  Conger,  as  our  minister  to  China, 
was  with  the  delegates  and  officials  of  Europe  gathered 
there  in  the  hourly  expectation  of  death.  There  were 
hours,  days,  and  weeks  when  no  word  of  that  awful  situ- 
ation could  reach  this  land.  A little  group  of  soldiers 
waited  at  Tien-tsin.  Councils  of  war  were  held,  and  day 
after  day  the  same  conclusion  reached  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  move  with  so  small  a force.  The  blindness 
and  darkness  could  not  be  penetrated.  Then  young 
America  got  one  word  through  to  Mr.  Conger,  who  re- 
plied, “For  God’s  sake  send  help  in  the  hour  of  our  ex- 
tremity.” Darkness,  blindness,  horror  settled  again. 
Another  council  of  war  was  held  and  it  was  again  de- 
cided that  the  journey  could  not  be  made  and  that  the 
battle  could  not  be  fought.  When  it  was  concluded,  the 
American  commander  said : “I  march  tomorrow  at 
eight  o’clock.”  The  brown  Jap  general  said,  “I  go  too.” 
They  could  not  let  them  go  without  help,  so  they  all 
tried  it.  They  had  wondered  at  and  criticized  the  order 


M orningside  College 


of  the  parades  of  the  Americans,  but  when  they  got  into 
battle  they  saw  that  every  soldier  was  a hero,  every  man 
a general,  and  the  representative  army  of  Europeans 
said : “How  these  Americans  think  for  themselves,  and 
act,  and  bring  things  to  pass !”  And  I think  I may  say 
for  these  splendid  trustees,  alumni,  students,  that  al- 
though we  are  young  in  ceremonies  the  records  will  show 
no  battle  could  be  too  fierce  for  these  soldiers  to  fight. 
We  entered  the  dark  days  when  desolation  sat  upon  the 
city  in  the  panic  of  the  9o’s.  In  that  hour  one  trustee, 
not  now  present,  with  a small  farm  down  in  Calhoun 
county,  said : “I  will  mortgage  it  for  all  it  will  bear, 
and  we  will  keep  holding  on.”  Another  dark  day  after 
the  loss  of  the  Sioux  City  fire,  in  the  winter  time,  a bliz- 
zard blowing  from  the  north,  these  trustees  came  to- 
gether. It  was  all  snow,  fire,  steam  and  ice ; for  Sioux 
City  was  in  ruins.  They  had  come  to  launch  the  endow- 
ment project.  A man,  Mr.  C.  H.  Lockin,  not  able  to 
be  present  this  morning,  made  such  an  address  as  fired 
the  heart  of  every  man ; and  it  is  no  wonder  such 
trustees  have  been  able  to  keep  a faculty  at  work  so 
sacrificingly,  for  we  are  still  pioneers.  These  students 
are  children  of  the  pioneers ; and  we  glory  in  our  fathers, 
and  in  the  homes  from  which  we  come.  These  children 
of  the  pioneers,  associated  with  their  fathers  in  this  task, 
appreciate  your  coming  today.  It  is  these  hosts  that  wel- 
come you ; they  give  to  you  the  campus  not  only  as  it  is, 
but  as  it  is  to  be.  Select  the  place  for  the  gymnasium. 
Place  the  library  for  us.  Think  into  these  things  for  us. 
Morningside  has  attained  a little.  These  are  not  idle 
dreams.  They  are  potentialities  in  the  hearts  and  minds 
of  this  splendid  territory.  We  claim  as  real  all  things 
toward  which  we  have  set  our  faces.  Think  this  thing 


Inauguration  Exercises 


through  for  us,  and  help  us  and  encourage  us.  We  wel- 
come you  to  our  school  and  to  our  homes..  Our  hearts 
were  yours  before  you  came. 


CALLING  OF  THE  ROLL  OF  DELEGATES — Pro- 
fessor Henry  F.  Kanthlener,  A.  M. 

Dr.  Stuart : 

I present  Professor  Kanthlener,  who  will  call  the 
roll  of  delegates. 

Professor  Kanthlener: 

Mr.  Chairman,  Delegates  and  Friends:  I have  here 
a very  large  number  of  responses.  On  account  of  the 
number  I am  sure  you  will  excuse  me  from  reading  them 
all.  However,  there  are  two  or  three  that  I think  should 
be  read  at  this  time.  The  first  is  from  the  Secretary  to 
the  President. 


The  White  House,  Washington. 


Mr.  H.  F.  Kanthlener, 
Morningside  College, 
Sioux  City,  Iowa. 


October  1 6,  1910. 


My  dear  Sir: 

In  behalf  of  the  President  1 beg  to  acknowledge  re- 
ceipt of  your  favor  of  October  3d,  and  to  thank  you  for 
your  courtesy  in  inviting  him  to  attend  the  installation 
of  President  Freeman  as  head  of  Morningside  College. 


Morningside  College 


He  regrets  that  his  engagements  and  official  duties  are 
such  as  to  make  it  impossible  for  him  to  accept. 

Regretting  that  I am  unable  to  send  you  a favorable 
response,  I am,  Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)  Charles  D.  Norton, 

Secretary  to  the  President. 

October  7,  1910. 

Professor  H.  F.  Kanthlener, 

Morningside  College, 

Sioux  City,  Iowa. 

My  dear  Professor: 

I am  just  in  receipt  of  the  invitation  of  the  Trustees 
and  Faculty  of  Morningside  College  to  be  present  on  the 
occasion  of  the  inauguration  of  the  new  President  of  the 
College  on  the  19th  instant.  I very  much  regret  that  the 
demands  upon  me  are  such  that  it  will  be  impossible  for 
me  to  accept.  I shall  always  remember  with  the  utmost 
pleasure  my  visit  to  the  College  two  or  three  years  ago. 
I then  had  an  opportunity  to  see  something  of  the  splen- 
did work  it  is  doing.  I take  this  opportunity  to  extend 
to  the  College  and  its  friends,  and  to  the  new  President, 
my  heartiest  felicitations  and  good  wishes. 

Very  sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)  Charles  W.  Fairbanks. 

(telegram) 

Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  October  19,  1910. 
Hon.  Jonathan  P.  Dolliver, 

Morningside  College, 

Sioux  City,  Iowa. 

Deeply  regret  imperative  engagements  prevent  our 


Inauguration  Exercises 


yielding  to  strong  impulse  to  go  to  President’s  Inaugura- 
tion. Brief  recent  visit  to  Momingside  impressed  me 
deeply  with  remarkable  opportunity  there.  Long  intimate 
acquaintance  with  President  Freeman  convinces  me  no 
Methodist  College  has  stronger  executive.  In  lieu  of  per- 
sonal presence  please  permit  me  to  pledge  $1,000  on 
needed  Momingside  gymnasium. 

(Signed)  John  A.  Patton. 

I shall  now  call  the  roll  of  delegates. 

The  State  of  Iowa — Hon.  Beryl  F.  Carroll , Governor. 

Department  of  Public  Instruction,  State  of  Iowa — 
Hon.  John  F.  Riggs,  LL.  D.,  Superintendent. 

The  City  of  Sioux  City — Hon.  A.  A.  Smith,  Mayor. 

Mayor  Smith: 

On  behalf  of  Sioux  City,  I wish  to  extend  to  Presi- 
dent Freeman  our  greeting;  and  I wish  further  to  ex- 
press the  wish,  the  hope,  and  the  belief,  that  Momingside 
College,  which  is  an  honor  and  credit  to  Sioux  City,  will 
grow  in  number  of  students,  in  appliances,  in  equip- 
ment, and  in  strength,  under  his  happy  guidance  and  the 
assistance  of  his  competent  and  devoted  faculty  and 
trustees. 

Harvard  University — David  Mould,  A.  B. 

Yale  University — Hon.  Elbert  H.  Hubbard,  A.  B.; 
W.  S.  Gilman,  A.  B. 

Columbia  University — Victor  Rosewater,  Ph.  B., 

A.  M.,  Ph.  D. 

Dr.  Rosewater: 

I am  happy  to  extend  greetings  and  congratulations 
on  behalf  of  Columbia  University  to  Momingside  Col- 


Morningside  College 


lege,  and  to  its  President,  whom  we  have  met  here  to 
inaugurate.  Columbia  is  always  glad  to  encourage  and 
to  lend  support  to  growing  and  progressive  universities 
and  colleges  that  come  to  help  in  the  great  field  of  edu- 
cational work. 

Like  all  our  American  colleges,  Columbia  has  gone 
through  a career  which  started  with  small  beginnings  and 
which  has  broug'ht  it  up  to  its  present  position,  and  it 
would  be  glad  to  see  every  other  college  started  in  the 
same  way  continue  with  even  greater  success.  You  have 
not  reached  the  point  of  debating  whether  this  shall  be 
called  Morningside  College  or  Morningside  University, 
although  I am  sure  you  will  some  day  come  to  it. 

That  recalls  an  incident  which  happened  in  my  own 
university  days  when  taking  a course  on  statistics  given 
by  Professor  Mayo-Smith  who  is  since  deceased.  One  of 
the  lectures  was  devoted  to  discussing  whether  statistics 
was  to  be  regarded  as  a science  or  an  art.  He  presented 
to  the  students  all  the  arguments  that  were  offered  for 
one  or  the  other:  that  statistics  from  one  point  of  view 
was  only  an  art,  being  handmaid  to  all  the  sciences ; and. 
from  the  other,  was  a science  in  itself,  being  a body  of 
observed  facts  systematically  presented  and  capable  of 
basing  predictions  of  future  events.  At  the  conclusion 
he  said,  “Gentlemen,  I have  given  you  the  arguments  on 
both  sides  as  to  whether  statistics  is  an  art  or  a science. 
You  may  decide  for  yourselves.  It  does  not  matter  so 
far  as  my  work  is  concerned,  for  I am  here  to  teach  the 
so-called  science  of  statistics.” 

So  whether  called  a university  or  a college,  the  work 
of  your  institution  is  laid  out,  and,  I am  sure,  headed  in 
the  right  direction. 

I congratulate  you,  President  Freeman,  personally, 


Inauguration  Exercises 


and  for  the  city  in  which  I live,  which  is  not  far  distant, 
and  may  be  expected  to  send  you  students  in  the  future. 
I thank  you  again  for  this  opportunity  of  speaking. 

Williams  College — George  E.  MacLean,  D . D.,  LL. 
D.,  President,  University  of  Iowa. 

Professor  Robert  Wylie  spoke  as  follows  in  behalf 
of  President  MacLean: 

President  MacLean  himself  is  under  a shadow  of 
deep  sorrow,  standing  in  the  shadow  of  Williams  Col- 
lege, paying  a last  tribute  to  his  mother,  deceased.  In  his 
hour  of  sorrow  he  did  not  forget  that  greetings  be  car- 
ried from  the  splendid  independent  college  of  the  east 
to  the  model  college  of  the  west. 

Princeton  University — John  H.  Kelly,  A.  B. 

Allegheny  College — Rev.  Charles  M.  Stuart,  D.  D., 
Litt.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Colgate  University — Rev.  E.  PI.  Stevens,  A.  B. 

Mr.  Stevens : 

I give  you  the  greetings  of  the  Baptists  in  this  city. 

McGill  University — /.  H.  Darey,  M.  D. 

Mt.  Holyoke  College — Miss  Laura  von  Schrader,  A.  B. 

Wesleyan  University — John  Littlefield  Tilton,  A.  M., 
Professor  of  Physics,  Simpson  College. 

Union  Theological  Seminary — Rev.  Thomas  L.  Sex- 
ton, D.  D.;  Rev.  Theodore  M.  Shipherd. 

DePauw  University — Rev.  John  S.  Hoagland,  D.  D. 

Iowa  Wesleyan  University — Edwin  A.  Schell,  D.  D., 
President. 


Morningside  College 


Ohio  Wesleyan  University — Miss  Minnie  Hickman, 
B . L. 

University  of  Iowa— Robert  Bradford  Wylie,  Ph.  D., 
Professor  of  Morphological  Botany . 

Dr.  Wylie: 

The  university  extends  congratulations  and  best 

wishes. 

Grinnele  College — Edward  A.  Steiner,  Ph.  D.,  D.  D., 
Professor  of  Applied  Christianity ; J.  S.  McCowan, 
A.  B.;  Rev.  Harley  R.  Core,  A.  B.,  B.  D. 

University  of  Wisconsin — Mrs.  H.  J.  Taylor,  A.  B.; 
Joseph  W.  Hal  lam,  A.  B. 

Mr.  Hallam: 

I can  say  for  myself  that  I am  glad  to  be  here,  but 
as  delegates  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  Wisconsin 
University,  Mrs.  Taylor  and  I are  glad  to  offer  congratu- 
lations to  Morningside  College  and  Dr.  Freeman. 

Western  College  for  Women — Miss  Robeina  Craw- 
ford Pardoc,  Ph.  B. 

Beaver  College — Mrs.  E.  R . Graham. 

Hamline  University — R.  Watson  Cooper,  A.  M.,  D. 
D.,  President  Upper  Iowa-  University. 

Northwestern  University — Abram  W.  Harris,  LL.  D., 
President;  Rev.  Charles  M.  Stuart,  D.  D.,  Lift.  D., 
LL.  D.;  Arthur  H.  Wilde,  Ph.  D.,  Professor  of 
History. 

Dr.  Wilde: 

Northwestern  offers  her  heartiest  felicitations  to 
Morningside  College,  in  which  all  universities  have  al- 
ways been  interested.  I would  like,  on  my  own  account, 


Inauguration  Exercises 


to  offer  to  Dr.  Freeman  and  wife  and  all  the  college,  per- 
sonal congratulations.  From  a friendship  with  Dr.  Free- 
man as  a college  mate  and  a fraternity  mate  I know  him. 
I congratulate  you  that  you  have  secured  him  for  your 
leader.  He  has  no  superior  in  robustness  of  manhood 
and  graciousness  of  spirit. 

Cornell  College — James  E.  Harlan,  A . M„  EE.  D., 
President . 

Upper  Iowa  University — R . Watson  Cooper,  A . M., 
D.  D.,  President . 

Vassar  College — Miss  Gladys  Brown , A.  B. 

Carleton  College — Luther  Allen  Weigle , Ph.  D. 

Simpson  College — Francis  E.  Strickland,  Ph.  D.,  Presi- 
dent. 

Tabor  College— Rev.  R.  C.  Cully,  A.  B. 

University  of  West  Virginia — Hon.  Jonathan  P.  Dol- 
liver,  EE.  D.  At  this  point  the  audience  arose  and 
stood  in  silence  out  of  respect  for  the  deceased  sen- 
ator, who  had  expected  to  be  present. 

Wellesley  College — Miss  Charlotte  Hubbard,  A.  B. 

German  Wallace  College — Bishop  John  E.  Nuelsen , 

D.  D. 

Boston  University — William  C.  Wasser,  Ph.  D. 

Coe  College — S.  W.  Stookey,  A.  M.,  EE.  D.,  President 
of  Bellevue  College. 

Yankton  College — Albert  L.  Lee,  Secretary. 

Mr.  Eee: 

I assure  you  it  is  a keen  delight  to  present  here 


M orningside  College 


greetings  from  Yankton.  I congratulate  you  on  your 
splendid  institution,  and  inauguration  of  Dr.  Freeman. 

University  or  South  Dakota — Franklin  B.  Gault , LL. 
D President . 

Dr.  Gault: 

Heartiest  congratulations  and  felicitations  from  your 
nearest  neighbor. 

Beeeevue  College — S.  W.  Stookey , A.  M.,  LL.  D 
President . 

University  oe  North  Dakota — Frank  LeRond  McVey, 
Ph.  D.,  LL.  D .,  President. 

Goucher  College — Miss  Ethel  Haskins , A.  B. 

Dakota  Wesleyan  University — S.  K.  Kerfoot,  A.  M., 
D.  D President. 

University  of  Chicago — C.  Walter  Britton , A.  B. 

Mr.  Britton: 

Perhaps  you  will  permit  a personal  word.  I went  to 
the  University  of  Chicago  from  the  preparatory  depart- 
ment of  Morningside  College.  I was  there  a year,  I 
think,  before  I found  more  than  three  persons  who  knew 
anything  about  Morningside  College.  Since  then  Morn- 
ingside College  has  made  such  strides  the  University  of 
Chicago  knows  about  it  and  asks  me  to  extend  congratu- 
lations to  Dr.  Freeman  and  the  College. 


Inauguration  Exercises 


RESPONSE  IN  BEHALF  OF  THE  DELEGATES— 

Reverend  Edwin  A.  Schell,  D.  D.,  President, 

Iowa  Wesleyan  University. 

Dr.  Stuart: 

I have  pleasure  in  presenting,  as  you  will  have  in 
hearing,  President  Edwin  A.  Schell,  of  Iowa  Wesleyan, 
who  has  assumed  the  responsibility  of  speaking  for  this 
celebrated  aggregation  of  learning. 

Dr.  Schell: 

Mr.  Chairman ; Mr.  President ; Fellow  Laborers  in 
the  field  of  education ; Pilgrims  to  the  Campagna  and 
the  heights  of  the  Acropolis ; Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

Perhaps  because  I am  the  President  of  the  oldest  in- 
stitution of  collegiate  grade  in  Iowa;  perhaps  because  it 
was  my  high  privilege  to  sit  with  the  founders  of  Morn- 
ingside  College  on  the  day  when  they  determined  that 
the  institution  should  be  here,  I have  this  privilege,  not 
because  of  my  agreement  to  speak  for  this  “aggregation,” 
as  this  distinguished  member  of  the  Ananias  Club  has  in- 
timated to  you.  Certainly  I should  hesitate  to  attempt 
to  represent  the  palpitating  joy  this  assemblage  feels  to 
have  such  reinforcement  as  is  accorded  to  the  cause  of 
education  by  the  induction  of  this  man  of  learning  and 
eloquence  into  his  high  office. 

This  convocation  makes  me  think  of  the  comparative 
merits  of  aristocracy  and  democracy  and  the  strange 
commingling  of  their  ideas  which  the  occasion  suggests. 
As  I understand  the  office  of  a College  President,  it  is 
the  one  aristocracy  that  democracy  affords — headship  in 
the  aristocracy  of  brains.  In  a democracy  where  we 
challenge  the  claim  of  anybody  to  be  superior,  where  no 
one  of  us  is  willing  to  recognize  we  are  any  whit  in- 
ferior, it  has  taken  on  the  guise  of  the  most  aristocratic 
position  which  the  country  and  society  affords.  For  the 
President,  mark  you  this,  is  the  sum  total  of  aristocracy ; 


Morningside  College 


the  aristocracy  of  talent;  the  aristocracy  of  brains;  the 
aristocracy  that  is  certain  ultimately  to  bring  all  other 
aristocracy  into  obeisance.  And  with  this  appreciation 
of  the  situation,  let  me  add  this  other — the  multiplication 
of  the  collegiate  institutions  of  learning  and  the  wide 
diffusion  of  intelligence.  There  was  an  old  Methodist 
itinerant  who  went  to  Conference  and  gave  an  account 
of  the  colleges  he  had  helped  to  found.  “Bless  the  Lord,” 
said  he,  “we  have  built  two  colleges  already,  and  have 
the  logs  out  for  three  more,”  and  in  Iowa  where  we  have 
founded  one  dozen  and  have  the  logs  for  fifteen  more  you 
can  understand  how  aristocratic  and  democratic  is  this 
office. 

It  is  so  significant  that  the  State  can  well  afford  to 
send  representatives  of  its  three  greatest  institutions  to 
this  function,  and  the  loss  is  with  the  colleges  that  are 
unrepresented.  For  this  induction  into  this  high  office 
with  its  power,  its  privileges,  and  its  opportunities  is  as 
significant,  ay  more  significant,  than  the  day  when  Blaine 
was  elected  speaker  of  the  house  and  when  Reed  took 
the  gavel  to  inaugurate  his  new  rule  for  counting  a 
quorum.  This  man  is  to  have  a greater  influence  by  the 
blessing  of  God  than  either.  This  is  as  significant  as 
the  day  when  Bishop  Foss — we  will  not  go  back  further 
than  Bishop  Foss — was  elected  President  of  Wesleyan. 
(It  is  not  strange  that  often  the  church,  for  its  highest 
officers,  goes  to  the  ranks  of  education).  It  is  as  sig- 
nificant as  when  Fowler  was  elected  President  of  North- 
western or  old  Joseph  Cummings,  Ex-president  of  Wes- 
leyan, came  to  Northwestern  to  enrich  it  and  break  down 
the  narrowness  of  its  horizon  and  make  it  one  of  the 
great  institutions  that  will  endure  for  a thousand  years. 

I bring  to  you,  Mr.  President,  the  congratulations 


Inauguration  Exercises 


and  hearty  endorsement  of  all  your  compeers,  and,  speak- 
ing for  these  gentlemen  and  the  representatives  of  these 
institutions,  our  hope  that  you  shall  have  such  an  admin- 
istration as  it  is  the  privilege  of  your  eloquence  and 
scholarly  ability  to  command ; that  you  will  give  to  Morn- 
ingside,  to  Sioux  City  and  to  all  these  students  such  an 
administration  as  they  have  a right  to  expect ; that  you 
may  put  your  influence  into  the  soul  of  every  young  fel- 
low that  comes  crowding  into  these  halls,  that  they  may 
say  of  you,  as  they  do  about  my  predecessor,  the  late  Dr. 
Elliot.  The  “boys” — old  boys  now — old  men — speak 
with  tears  of  the  days  when  Elliot  used  to  come  into  the 
recitations  rooms,  and  with  his  Irish  brogue  say,  “Good 
morning,  boys.  Study  your  Algebra.  Get  your  Trigo- 
nometry. Be  good  byes,  and  God  bless  you.”  That  you 
may  impress  the  young  men  like  the  Elder  Arnold,  of 
whom  it  is  said,  “He  made  the  men  that  made  England” ; 
that  you  may  help  Momingside  do  what  Iowa  Wesleyan 
has  done — give  a Gardner  Cowles  to  the  Register  & 
Leader;  give  a John  F.  Riggs,  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  or  in  other  words,  that  you  may  help 
to  make  the  men  who  make  Iowa  and  America. 

It  is  my  sincere  wish  that  you  may  be  able  to  select 
great  men  for  the  faculty ; not  only  men  who  shall  know 
“reading,  writing  and  arithmetic” ; not  only  men  who 
know  the  fundamentals ; but  that  you  may  find  men  with 
power  and  capacity  to  break  down  the  limits  of  the 
horizon  and  bring  young  people  into  the  presence  of  the 
Infinite;  to  help  them  to  rise  from  the  things  they  know 
to  the  things  they  do  not  know  ; to  climb  from  things  seen 
to  things  unseen ; from  things  that  perish  to  things  that 
abide;  from  things  that  are  temporal  to  things  that  are 
eternal ; that  you  may  be  able  to  put  your  hand  on  some 


Morningside  College 


man  for  your  faculty  like  Aggasiz,  who  shall  keep  alive 
faith  in  this  country  for  a hundred  years ; to  put  your 
hand  on  some  Professor  of  English  like  Lowell  to  teach 
English  not  only  as  it  is  spoken,  but  make  English  the 
world  over  a precipitate  for  liberty,  patriotism  and  noble 
ideas  ; that  you  may  be  able  to  do  what  Oliver  Marcey  did 
for  my  early  life — teach  that  the  germ,  the  soul  of  all, 
is  not  bacilli  and  bacteria  revealed  by  the  most  powerful 
microscope,  but  that  it  is  that  persuasive  power  described 
and  delineated  by  the  man  who  wrote  that  first  chapter 
of  Genesis,  who  began  by  saying,  “In  the  beginning, 
God." 

I have  been  to  Heidelberg.  The  only  proof  I have 
that  I am  a College  President  is  the  way  I say  “Heidel- 
berg." Perhaps  if  I had  said  it  in  conversation,  I would 
not  have  gotten  that  as  I congratulate  myself  I did  this 
morning.  I was  once  at  Heidelberg.  A German  in  im- 
perfect English  told  me  to  my  imperfect  German  how 
Heidelberg  was  almost  500  years  old,  but  that  before  the 
university  proper,  for  300  years  there  had  been  a school ; 
how  away  back  in  1128  a little  sawed-off  German  gave  a 
cottage  and  a patch  of  ground  for  the  support  of  the 
teacher,  “der  lehrer,"  and  Carlyle  laughs  and  says,  “Much 
good  cabbage  has  grown  on  the  patch  which  the  little 
German  gave,  and  many  good  barrels  of  kraut  have  they 
made  out  of  the  cabbage  which  grew  on  the  patch  of 
ground."  Just  think  of  it,  gentlemen,  if  we  live  until 
1928,  for  eight  hundred  years  the  gift  of  the  little  old 
German  shall  have  been  doing  its  mighty  office  in  the 
world.  That  was  twenty-eight  or  thirty,  possibly  thirty- 
two  years  before  Conrad,  of  Hohenzollern,  went  to  seek 
his  fortune  in  the  world.  Thirty-two  years  older  than 
the  family  of  William  the  Second,  he  of  the  upturned 


Inauguration  Exercises 


mustache,  is  this  aristocracy  of  education  that  was 
founded  by  a little  old  German,  who  gave  a cottage  and 
a patch  of  ground  for  the  support  of  the  teacher. 

Have  you  ever  been  down  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury’s  office  at  Washington  and  seen  the  faces  of  the 
Secretaries  of  this  country  in  that  long  line  of  pictures? 
Have  you  ever  been  in  the  seat  of  one  of  the  English  fam- 
ilies and  gone  up  and  down  the  galleries  and  looked  upon 
the  faces  of  the  old  Lords,  Dukes  and  Earls  that  hang 
about  the  walls  ? Let  me  remind  you,  Mr.  President,  that 
you  are  in  a great  succession,  and  that  fifty  years,  one 
hundred  years,  five  hundred  years  from  now,  perhaps, 
the  single  aristocracy  that  America  will  tolerate,  the  aris- 
tocracy of  talent,  shall  see  your  face  hanging  on  the  wall 
of  the  library  or  chapel  here  and  say,  “He  built  this  for 
the  cause  of  education  and  for  the  enlargement  of  the 
human  mind  at  Morningside  College.” 

I pray  you,  Sir,  that  by  God’s  grace  you  may  be  as 
courteous,  as  winsome,  as  sympathetic  as  was  this  Wil- 
son Seeley  Lewis  who  preceded  you  in  this  high  office ; 
that  you  may  be  able  to  select  men  as  great  as  have 
adorned  the  faculties  of  any  institution  in  this  state ; that 
by  the  blessing  of  God,  by  power,  courtesy  and  charm 
you  shall  be  able  to  penetrate  the  wallets  of  many  who 
“get  all  they  can  and  can  all  they  get”  and  persuade  them 
to  open  them  out  and  give  to  Morningside  College. 

Chorus — “O  Clap  Your  Hands” Turner 

The  College  Choir. 

PRAYER — Reverend  James  Lewis  Gileies,  A B. 

Dr.  Stuart: 

Prayer  will  be  offered  by  Rev.  J.  L.  Gillies. 


Morningside  College 


Mr.  Gillies : 

Oh  God,  Thou  art  great ; great  in  Thy  power ; in  Thy 
resources;  Thou  art  great  in  Thine  infinite  love  and  in 
Thy  mercy;  great  in  Thine  ability  and  in  Thy  willing- 
ness. We  are  in  Thy  presence.  We  worship  Thee  at 
this  time.  We  thank  Thee  that  there  comes  to  our  spirits 
response  as  our  faith  goes  out  unto  Thee.  Thou  art  not 
far  from  anyone  of  us.  Thou  art  very  near  and  art  re- 
vealing Thyself  to  us  as  we  sit  in  Thy  presence  on  this 
occasion ; and  as  there  are  many  voices  coming  to  us 
from  different  parts  of  our  nation;  many  interests  rep- 
resented ; the  past  focused  upon  the  present ; we  pray 
Thee,  help  us  appreciate  this  hour. 

As  we  sit  before  Thee  in  this  season  of  fellowship, 
do  Thou  reveal  the  past  as  memory  serves  us.  As  that 
which  has  passed  before  our  vision  comes  to  us  anew,  we, 
are  able  to  see  how  God’s  hand  is  shaping  the  events  and 
the  affairs  of  men.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  vantage 
ground  which  we  occupy  today,  and  for  all  Thou  hast 
made  possible  unto  us.  Truly  our  responsibility  is  great. 
Thy  voice  comes  to  us  in  the  midst  of  this  occasion  and 
all  that  it  represents,  and  Thou  dost  call  us  into  the  to- 
morrows of  life,  and  dost  ask  us  that  we  shall  appropri- 
ate and  utilize  all  that  which  Thou  hast  placed  at  our  dis- 
posal to  make  us  the  kind  of  men  and  women,  under  di- 
vine leadership,  that  shall  occupy  the  places  and  perform 
the  tasks  ordained  of  Thee  for  the  betterment  of  the 
world.  And  as  Thou  hast  endowed  us  in  body,  mind  and 
soul,  we  pray  Thee,  O God,  that  we  may  measure  up  to 
Thine  expectations,  and  in  the  strength,  power  and  wis- 
dom of  the  Son  of  God  and  the  Son  of  Man,  may  we  go 
forth  to  accomplish  that  which  we  ought. 

Bless,  we  pray  Thee,  this  hour  and  all  the  interests 


Inauguration  Exercises 


which  are  here  represented.  May  Thy  choicest  blessings 
be  upon  this  school  and  upon  its  future.  May  this  be 
the  beginning  of  a new  history  and  may  this  organization 
be  enabled  to  reach  out  in  the  strengthening  and  in  the 
cultivation  of  these  young  lives  in  this  section  of  our  fair 
nation ; and  may  the  President,  and  the  members  of  the 
Faculty,  the  Trustees,  and  all  interested,  under  God,  be 
enabled  so  to  organize  and  to  plan  and  execute,  that  the 
very  best  may  be  accomplished  for  our  constituency. 

And  as  we  now  stand  in  Thy  presence  with  bowed 
heads,  we  are  also  with  bowed  hearts.  We  pray  again 
Thy  blessing  upon  the  home  that  is  in  the  mists  and  the 
shadows  today.  Grant  that  this  sudden  bereavement  may 
be  sanctified  by  Thy  Spirit  to  the  good  of  the  family  be- 
reft, and  every  interest,  in  nation,  in  church,  and  in 
school,  represented  by  this,  our  fallen  leader.  And  we 
pray  Thee  that  men  such  as  he,  in  mind  and  in  soul,  may 
be  raised  up  who  shall  emulate  his  example  and  take  up 
the  tasks  where  he  laid  them  down  and  go  forward  to 
reach  and  accomplish  that  which  God  would  have. 

Now,  Lord,  as  we  tarry  before  Thee ; as  these  exer- 
cises continue;  may  Thy  Spirit  be  present  in  them  all, 
and  may  those  who  speak  and  those  who  hear  be  blessed 
alike.  As  we  go  forth  from  this  house  and  campus  to 
our  various  homes  may  we  go  in  the  fear  and  love  of 
Almighty  God,  with  the  power  and  wisdom  which  He 
doth  grant. 

Hear  us  in  these  supplications.  May  Thy  blessing 
be  upon  the  chief  executive  of  our  nation  and  his  advis- 
ors, and  all  who  rule  over  us  in  local  authority.  Hear 
us  and  answer  us,  forgiving  us  for  our  sins ; we  ask  in 
Jesus’  name. 

Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  Thy 


Morningside  College 


name.  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth 
as  it  is  in  heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread ; and 
forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those  who  tres- 
pass against  us ; and  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  de- 
liver us  from  evil;  for  Thine  is  the  Kingdom,  and  the 
power,  and  the  glory,  forever.  Amen. 

INDUCTION — Honorable  O.  W.  Towner,  President 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Dr.  Stuart: 

The  charge  of  service  to  the  President-elect  will  be 
given  by  Mr.  Towner,  President  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees. 

Mr.  Towner: 

I was  told  a little  while  ago  that  I might  deliver 
Judge  Ladd’s  address.  Not  knowing  what  is  in  his 
mind  I cannot  very  well  do  it.  I am  reminded  of  an- 
other scene  which  took  place  in  this  northland  not  long 
since  where  a convention  of  learned  men  was  being  held. 
Finding  there  was  an  Iowa  man  present  they  were  anx- 
ious to  hear  the  Iowa  man  talk  stock,  when  one  asked 
where  Iowa  was.  They  wanted  to  know  if  it  was  out  in 
Alberta.  A typewritten  letter  addressed  to  Kansas  City, 
Mo.,  they  returned  for  more  definite  address.  I speak 
of  that  to  show  you  it  is  a big  country.  This  convention 
went  off  all  right  and  the  Iowa  man  was  there ; but  it 
reminded  one  of  the  water  pressure  out  here  at  Morning- 
side.  That  is  about  the  setting  I feel  today  under  the 
depression  which  comes  to  us  as  a Board. 

One  ought  to  feel  at  home  on  this  rostrum,  who 
had  something  to  do  with  ordering  the  material.  One 
ought  to  feel  at  home  who  knew  something  about  Morn- 


Inauguration  Exercises 


ingside  College.  I believe  the  judge  was  to  tell  us 
something  of  its  history.  I do  not  care  much  for  its 
past.  It  is  written.  The  only  good  is  it  helps  us  in 
the  future.  I know  a few  things  about  its  history.  I do 
not  know  where  it  was  born.  It  was  born  first  in  the 
thought  of  the  Almighty.  He  put  it  into  some  man’s 
mind.  There  it  started.  He  alone  can  tell  of  its  future. 

We  have  seen  some  things  done.  We  have  seen  it  in 
its  poverty.  We  have  seen  it  in  its  hours  of  depression 
and  grief.  We  have  seen  it  in  its  hours  of  joy  and  an- 
ticipation. We  have  seen  the  raw  product,  the  unde- 
veloped boys  and  girls  come  here,  and  after  four  or  five 
years  of  study  and  honest  toil  go  out  into  strong,  hard 
work  for  humanity.  It  has  been  worth  while. 

It  has  had  its  period  when  L.  J.  Haskins  (permit  me 
to  speak  his  name  because  it  is  worthy  of  it)  carried  the 
finances  in  his  vest  pocket.  Other  men  I would  like  to 
mention,  but  the  list  is  too  long.  The  record  is  written. 
We  have  had  so  many  good  things — more  than  some 
men  think.  I do  not  feel  disposed  to  tire  you.  Life  is 
too  short.  You  have  not  the  patience  to  listen. 

We  are  here  on  a great  occasion.  We  are  making 
history  today  and  it  means  much  for  Morningside,  but  we 
cannot  stop  to  tell  you  what  it  means.  I turn  from  what 
comes  to  my  mind  and  think  of  Dr.  Freeman.  (Dr.  Free- 
man then  arose.  Loud  applause.) 

The  corporation,  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Morning- 
side  College,  have  selected  you  for  their  standard  bearer. 
They  believe  in  you ; they  believe  that  every  fibre  of  your 
being  will  respond  to  that  great  cause ; they  believe  that 
you  will  maintain  the  high  ideals  that  have  been  exempli- 
fied and  brought  forth  by  that  leader  of  men,  our  former 
President,  Dr.  Lewis  (applause)  ; and  that  this  institu- 


Morningside  College 


tion,  founded  with  endless  prayers  and  the  gifts  and  lives 
of  noble  men  and  women  will  continue  to  send  its  alumni 
out  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  to  bless  and  lift 
mankind.  Emerson  has  said  every  great  institution  is 
the  shadow  of  some  man  who  has  cast  his  influence  down 
to  future  generations. 

I have  been  commissioned  by  this  Corporation  to  in- 
duct you  into  the  office  of  President  of  Morningside  Col- 
lege and  I now  declare  that  you  are  invested  with  the 
authority,  privileges  and  power  appertaining  to  that  high 
office  and  present  to  you  the  Charter  of  our  institution, 
the  Seal,  and  the  Keys.  This  destiny  of  our  beloved 
institution  rests  with  you.  May  God  be  with  you. 

ACCEPTANCE — President  Luther  Freeman,  D.  D. 
President  Freeman : 

President  Towner,  with  a very  great  sense  of  the 
sacredness  of  this  trust,  with  a consciousness  of  my  own 
limitations,  with  profound  confidence  in  you  and  the 
trustees  whom  you  represent,  and  in  profoundest  confi- 
dence and  reliance  upon  our  great  Leader  I accept  this 
office.  I pray  God’s  blessing  upon  me ; upon  us  all. 

Hymn — Faith  of  Our  Fathers. 

INAUGURAL  ADDRESS— The  President. 

Dr.  Stuart: 

Dr.  Freeman,  having  been  duly  certified  and  prop- 
erly accredited,  will  now  present  the  inaugural  address. 

President  Freeman : 

Dr.  Stuart,  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  Dele- 
gates, Trustees,  Alumni,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

It  is  understood  by  all,  of  course,  that  the  pageant 


Inauguration  Exercises 


and  welcome  and  distinction  of  this  day  are  given  not 
to  any  particular  person,  but  as  a tribute  to  that  which 
has  been  felicitously  denominated,  “our  national  idol,” 
education. 

Although  personality  is  distinctly  in  the  background, 
we  must  recognize  that  the  type  and  quality  of  the  edu- 
cation characteristic  of  an  institution  is  largely  dependent 
upon  the  personality  which  shapes  its  policy.  It  is, 
therefore,  quite  fitting,  and  certainly  a distinct  personal 
pleasure,  to  recognize  the  very  great  service  rend- 
ered to  the  educational  interests  of  this  section  by 
my  honored  predecessor  who,  through  practically  all  the 
years  of  Morningside  College,  has  been  its  inspiration 
and  leader.  We  all  regret  most  sincerely  the  providence 
that  makes  it  necessary  for  us  this  day  to  do  without  the 
presence  of  the  eloquent  and  statesmanlike  educator, 
Bishop  Wilson  Seeley  Lewis.  Perhaps,  however,  the 
spirit  of  Morningside  is  pictured  all  the  more  vividly  by 
his  absence;  for  Morningside,  while  very  distinctly,  and 
to  a remarkable  extent,  the  child  of  a special  locality,  has 
always  recognized  a world-wide  mission.  There  is  hardly 
a land  anywhere  beyond  the  reach  of  its  immediate  in- 
fluence ; for  Morningside  boys  and  girls  have  gone  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth  to  tell  men  of  “the  life  that  is  life 
indeed.” 

While  the  frequency  of  such  occasions  renders 
unique  or  original  utterance  on  educational  problems  im- 
possible, it  seems  fitting  that,  with  the  beginning  of  a 
college  administration,  those  to  whom  the  shaping  of  its 
policy  is  committed  should  be  expected  to  indicate,  in 
outline,  the  ideals  that  should  in  their  judgment,  domi- 
nate the  work  of  the  institution. 

It  is  all  the  more  fitting  at  this  time  that  a word  of 


Morningside  College 


defense  should  be  spoken  because  of  the  fact  that  the 
colleges  of  the  United  States  have  been  under  fire  of 
late.  While  we  have  worshipped  education  in  the  ab- 
stract with  blind  devotion,  declaring  that  it  is  the  sov- 
ereign panacea  for  all  our  national  ills,  for  the  banish- 
ment of  poverty,  the  assimilation  of  the  foreigner,  the 
eradication  of  the  liquor  evil,  the  solution  of  the  race 
problem,  and  the  final  creator  of  domestic  tranquility,  we 
find  our  colleges  bitterly  criticised. 

President  Butler  says : “The  American  college 
hardly  exists  nowadays  and,  unless  all  signs  mislead, 
those  who  want  it  back  in  all  its  useful  excellencies  will 
have  to  fight  for  it  vigorously.  The  milk  and  water  sub- 
stitute and  the  fiat  university  that  have  taken  the  place 
of  the  college  are  pretty  poor  returns  for  what  we  have 
lost.” 

The  charges  are  many  and  often  contradictory. 
Some  one  has  discovered  that  the  colleges  are  hotbeds  of 
every  kind  of  heresy,  that  the  faith  of  our  fathers  is  being 
sorely  imperiled  by  the  frankness  of  the  teaching,  es- 
pecially the  scientific  teaching,  now  being  given  in  our 
class  rooms.  On  the  other  hand  we  are  told  that  we  are 
so  bound  by  the  old  faiths  and  creeds  as  to  be  unable  to 
give  that  breadth  and  catholicity  of  thought  necessary  to 
develop  the  poise  and  judgment  essential  to  the  largest 
personality.  One  day  we  are  charged  with  dreamy 
idealism,  the  next  we  are  said  to  lay  our  emphasis  upon 
football,  weight  throwing  and  general  athletics,  until  the 
aim  seems  to  be  a scholarship  of  muscle  and  avoirdupois. 
Prominent  representatives  of  the  business  world  are  tell- 
ing us  that  our  graduates  are  inefficient,  that  much  which 
has  been  learned  in  college  has  to  be  unlearned  before  a 
boy  is  of  particular  value  as  an  employe  in  one  of  our 


Inauguration  Exercises 


mercantile  houses.  Scholars  declare  that  the  passion  for 
scholarship  is  a thing  of  the  past;  that  our  graduates 
lack  the  stamp  of  real  culture;  that  the  bookkeeper  is 
more  honored  than  Browning,  and  Ben  Pitman  outranks 
Plato — and  some  one  has  suggested  the  raising  of  a com- 
mission to  ascertain  the  actual  percentage  of  illiterates 
among  college  matriculants.  If  we  are  not  condemned 
because  of  the  things  we  teach,  we  are  consigned  by  some 
specialist  to  everlasting  condemnation  for  the  things  we 
do  not  teach.  At  the  same  time  money  has  been  poured 
out  of  public  and  private  purse  for  the  building  and  en- 
dowing of  institutions  of  learning  in  a manner  eclipsing 
anything  known  in  the  history  of  mankind.  And  in  this 
munificence  the  college  has  enjoyed  most  generous  recog- 
nition. 

We  may  appropriately  inquire:  What  do  we  mean 
by  education  ? What  end  is  it  intended  to  serve  ? Do  we 
propose  to  equip  its  beneficiaries  to  win  the  world’s  finan- 
cial prizes,  or  do  we  propose  to  create  an  intellectual  aris- 
tocracy ? Is  our  aim  culture  for  culture’s  sake,  or  are  we 
seeking  technical  scholarship  ? What  shall  be  our 
answer? 

We  shall  not  be  satisfied  with  any  answer  that  is 
not  stated  in  terms  of  life.  How  to  live  is  the  question. 
The  pragmatist  is  absolutely  correct  at  this  point.  I can- 
not do  better  than  quote  this  memorable  passage  from 
Herbert  Spencer:  “How  to  live? — that  is  the  essential 
question  for  us.  Not  how  to  live  in  the  mere  material 
sense  only,  but  in  the  widest  sense.  The  general  prob- 
lem which  comprehends  all  special  problems  is — the  right 
ruling  of  conduct  in  all  directions  under  all  circum- 
stances. In  what  way  to  treat  the  body ; in  what  way  to 
treat  the  mind;  in  what  way  to  manage  our  affairs;  in 


Morningside  College 


what  way  to  bring  up  a family;  in  what  way  to  behave 
as  a citizen;  in  what  way  to  utilize  all  those  sources  of 
happiness  which  nature  supplies — how  to  use  all  our 
faculties  to  the  greatest  advantage  to  ourselves  and 
others? — how  to  live  completely?  And  this  being  the 
great  thing  needful  for  us  to  learn  is  by  consequence  the 
great  thing  which  education  has  to  teach.  To  prepare 
us  for  complete  living  is  the  function  which  education  has 
to  discharge;  and  the  only  rational  mode  of  judging  of 
any  educational  course  is  to  judge  in  what  degree  it  dis- 
charges such  a function.” 

Has  the  college  an  essential  place  in  the  work  of  giv- 
ing our  young  people  such  education?  We  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  answer  with  an  emphatic  affirmative.  It  is  not 
possible  for  the  high  school  by  multiplying  its  courses  to 
give  anything  like  an  equivalent  for  the  work  of  the  first 
years  of  the  college.  The  atmosphere  of  the  high  school 
due  to  the  immaturity  of  the  student  body  is  quite  dis- 
tinct from  that  of  the  college.  So  different  must  high 
school  methods  be  that  the  better  colleges  cannot  give 
credit  for  courses  parallel  to  their  own,  which  have  been 
pursued  in  the  secondary  institution.  We  are  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  broader  conception  of  the  high  school.  It 
must  not  be  looked  upon  as  exclusively  a fitting  school 
for  the  college.  Doubtless  the  state  should  recognize  an 
obligation  to  give  increasing  consideration  to  that  large 
percentage  of  high  school  students  who  have  no  expecta- 
tion of  going  further.  It  may  offer  some  elementary 
technical  courses,  but  it  can  give  no  acceptable  substitute 
for  the  cultural  courses  and  atmosphere  of  the  real  col- 
lege. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  spirit  of  the  university  is  not 
the  spirit  of  the  college.  The  university  emphasizes  tech- 


Inauguration  Exercises 


nical  scholarship ; the  college,  broad  and  catholic  culture. 
The  university  adapts  its  work  and  discipline  to  the  ma- 
ture student  to  whom  the  largest  liberty  should  always 
be  given.  Intensive  work,  narrowed  to  the  chosen  spec- 
ialty, is  its  aim.  The  college  takes  students  in  the  later 
adolescent  period  and  is  charged  with  the  responsibility 
of  shaping  the  intellectual  and  moral  nature,  into  har- 
mony with  the  truest  ideals  of  life.  It  must  aim  con- 
tinually to  produce  the  well-rounded  personality.  Schol- 
arship in  the  technical  sense  is  a subordinate  consider- 
ation. The  nonsense  of  the  irresponsible  boy  must  be 
transformed  into  genuine  seriousness.  His  work  must 
inspire  him  with  hearty  interest,  and  life  must  be  filled 
with  a worthy  purpose.  While  the  free  liberty  of  uni- 
versity life  must  be  denied  him  at  this  period,  he  must 
recognize  the  necessity  of  facing  for  himself  great  moral 
problems  and  accepting  the  consequences.  The  real  col- 
lege will  not  seek  to  go  beyond  its  legitimate  sphere  in 
either  direction.  It  will  ask  the  secondary  school  to  give 
thorough  grounding  in  the  fundamentals  and  in  that 
painstaking  drill  without  which  the  student  must  always 
walk  with  uncertain  steps.  It  will  aim  to  help  youth  to 
self-consciousness  through  intellectual  training;  to  teach 
them  to  think  for  themselves ; to  acquaint  them  with  the 
great  currents  of  history  and  the  more  important  facts  of 
the  world  in  which  we  now  live;  to  adjust  them  to  the 
world  of  activity  so  that  they  shall  come  to  largest  self- 
hood and  the  maximum  of  usefulness,  and  then  send 
them  on  to  the  university  to  pursue  their  chosen  profes- 
sion. The  college  is  still  a necessity. 

Until  within  a few  years  the  courses  of  study  in  our 
colleges  were  so  uniform  that  the  bachelor’s  degree  sig- 
nified a certain  very  definite  amount  of  particular  work. 


Morningside  College 


A few  years  ago  a brilliant  educator  startled  the  old  time 
colleges  out  of  the  routine  by  proclaiming  the  wooden- 
ness of  the  system  of  prescribed  courses.  So  eloquently 
did  he  preach  and  so  logically  did  he  maintain  the  ex- 
cellencies of  an  elective  system,  that  the  old  landmarks 
were  obliterated.  The  student  was  given  the  widest  pos- 
sible latitude  in  choosing  the  courses  which  he  particu- 
larly fancied,  or,  if  he  was  of  an  indolent  disposition,  the 
courses  in  which  he  might  most  easily  secure  credits. 
Now,  we  see  a distinct  swinging  of  the  pendulum  in  the 
other  direction.  It  has  come  to  be  recognized  that  a 
course  which  costs  the  student  little  is  worth  little  to 
the  student.  The  student  from  the  high  school  is  very 
inadequately  supplied  with  that  vision  and  perspective 
necessary  to  make  wise  choice  of  offered  courses.  From 
all  sides  we  are  hearing  an  outcry  because  of  the  lack 
of  enthusiasm  for  real  scholarship,  and  those  who  believe 
that  the  elective  system  has  been  carried  to  an  unwise 
extreme  do  not  hesitate  to  ascribe  much  of  our  mental 
sloth  to  the  habit  of  doing  only  the  things  that  are  con- 
genial. 

The  old  system  with  its  prescribed  courses  was  un- 
doubtedly open  to  grave  objection.  No  two  minds  are 
precisely  alike,  and  you  can  no  more  get  scholarship  of 
the  best  type  out  of  a cast-iron  regime  than  you  can  get 
the  best  speed  from  fifty  colts  by  driving  them  in  a drove 
around  the  race  track.  The  course  was  too  narrow ; it 
confined  itself  almost  exclusively  to  the  ancient  lan- 
guages, mathematics,  philosophy  and  a type  of  history 
that  was  hardly  more  than  a set  of  chronicles.  But  we 
must  say  in  defense  of  this  regime  that  the  curriculum 
covered  pretty  well  the  knowledge  then  current  among 
men.  The  world  of  science  and  the  modern  methods  of 


Inauguration  Exercises 


scientific  investigation  were  as  yet  unknown.  We  must 
remember  that  Harvard  began  its  work  one  hundred  fifty 
years  before  Priestly  and  Lavoisier  had  revealed  the  mys- 
teries of  chemistry  and  Hutton  and  Cuvier  had  aroused 
the  world  to  an  interest  in  paleontology  and  geology,  or 
Adam  Smith  in  his  “Wealth  of  Nations”  had  shown  men 
that  there  were  laws  underlying  the  social  movements  of 
humanity.  This  was  one  hundred  years  before  Linnaeus 
had  awakened  men  to  the  study  of  botany  and  zoology, 
and  fifty  years  before  Locke  had  written  his  “Human 
Understanding”  and  made  possible  modern  philosophy 
and  modern  history.  But,  crude  as  it  was,  this  method 
accomplished  marvels  for  those  who  submitted  themselves 
to  it.  We  are  not  in  a mood  for  despising  the  attain- 
ments of  the  lawyers,  statesmen,  preachers  and  poets  who 
were  the  product  of  the  schools  of  those  olden  times. 
Those  men  studied  logic  and  mathematics,  and  as  a re- 
sult they  could  think.  They  could  think  clearly  and  per- 
sistently, and  they  could  draw  conclusions  and  defend 
them.  They  had  power  not  only  to  think,  but  they  had 
power  to  give  expression  to  their  thoughts ; and  we 
should  be  quite  gratified  if  we  could  produce  in  our  in- 
stitution a few  men  with  the  ability  to  write  as  clearly, 
think  as  closely,  or  speak  with  the  force  and  eloquence 
of  the  men  who  lifted  the  last  century  to  high  levels. 

In  these  days  we  are  calling  for  courses  that  shall 
permit  the  student  to  work  along  the  line  of  least  re- 
sistance. We  talk  about  adaptation,  the  awakening  of 
interest,  and  considering  the  bent  of  the  individual  mind. 
We  eliminate  the  spur  of  discipline  and  sharp  competi- 
tion and  give  the  sugar  plum  of  a pleasant  diversion.  In 
short,  we  are  asking  that  the  methods  which  may  be 
tolerable  in  the  kindergarten  be  carried  through  the  sec- 


Morningside  College 


ondary  course  and  finally  into  the  college.  As  a result 
we  have  inaccurate  scholarship,  loose  thinking,  a smat- 
tering of  superficial  information,  dilettante  culture,  and 
positive  paralysis  in  the  presence  of  problems  that  require 
real  originality.  A real  college  course  will  awaken  dor- 
mant capacities,  develop  the  sense  of  responsibility,  teach 
accuracy  and  create  sturdy  self  confidence.  It  cannot  do 
this  by  making  the  college  like  Tennyson’s  valley  of 
Avilion  “Where  falls  not  rain  nor  hail  nor  any  snow” ; 
but  it  must  have  its  rules  and  regulations,  it  must  dis- 
cipline, and  it  must  compel  the  proper  performance  of 
reasonable  tasks.  There  is  no  royal  road  to  mental  power 
and  mastery.  There  is  no  way  but  the  hard  way  lead- 
ing to  the  end.  The  doing  of  the  positively  distasteful 
is  necessary.  Holding  one’s  self  without  compromise  to 
the  undesirable  task  is  imperative.  The  unpromising 
student  cries  for  “sympathetic  patience”  when  he  needs 
the  discipline  of  hardness.  It  is  our  business  to  prepare 
the  student  to  live  in  the  actual  world  and  there  he  will 
not  find  concession  and  compromise  the  prevailing  spirit. 
He  must  meet  things  as  they  are,  he  must  translate  his 
ideals  into  life  without  a “pony”  and  solve  the  difficult 
problems  without  a “key.”  The  world  will  not  always 
excuse  and  tolerate  his  inefficiency  because  he  is  “so  fas- 
cinating.” Unless  he  learns  how  to  lift  the  heavy  bur- 
dens and  strike  the  hard  blow  and  defend  himself,  the 
chariots  of  civilization  will  roll  over  him  and  he  will  be 
crushed.  If  he  does  not  like  mathematics  it  is  because  it 
is  not  easy  for  him  to  think  accurately  and  continuously. 
That  is  just  the  reason  why  mathematics  should  be 
taken.  Metaphysics  is  seemingly  impossible  at  first  be- 
cause we  have  not  learned  to  think  outside  of  sense  phe- 
nomena. Abstract  thinking  is  not  so  simple  as  handling 


Inauguration  Exercises 


the  concrete,  but  no  man  gets  far  until  he  has  acquired 
this  power.  Therefore  philosophy  and  metaphysics  have 
their  place  and  no  student  should  be  allowed  to  shirk  this 
kind  of  work.  Has  a student  no  faculty  for  seeing 
things?  Has  his  power  of  observation  never  been  cul- 
tivated? Would  he  rather  read  poetry  than  strain  his 
eyes  by  careful  attention  to  the  microscope?  That  is 
the  reason  why  he  should  have  courses  in  the  laboratory 
and  train  himself  to  observe  accurately  and  patiently. 
How  few  of  us  are  able  to  see  even  though  we  appear  to 
have  eyes ! For  how  many  years  men  have  looked  upon 
the  mosquito  as  simply  a disagreeable  nocturnal  visitor. 
He  has  been  tolerated  and  we  have  looked  upon  his  tor- 
ments as  having  no  more  significance  than  a temporary 
irritation  of  the  epidermis.  Then  some  one  had  wit 
enough  to  note  the  connection  between  the  mosquito  and 
a dread  disease,  and  suddenly  the  mosquito  is  seen  to  be 
more  dangerous  to  humanity  than  all  the  venomous 
snakes  ever  discovered.  The  educated  man  is  the  man 
who  can  hold  himself  to  the  unpleasant,  unattractive 
task.  Control  of  one’s  faculties — that  is  the  goal ! It  is 
said  that  Senator  Edmonds  could  look  at  a fly  on  a barn 
door  for  thirty  minutes  and  never  see  the  barn  door! 
It  is  no  wonder  that  he  made  his  way  to  a place  of  al- 
most unmatched  influence  in  the  highest  legislative  body 
in  the  land  and  that  his  advice  had  much  to  do  with 
shaping  our  more  significant  national  movements  for  a 
third  of  a century. 

The  degree  of  a man’s  real  education  is  determined 
by  his  power  of  voluntary  rather  than  spontaneous  at- 
tention. I think  we  can  see  the  tendency  of  the  loose, 
easy  going  methods  of  the  modern  school  among  the 
masses  of  the  people.  The  real  lecture  platform  was 


Morningside  College 


once  popular.  The  people  flocked  to  hear  such  men 
as  Wendell  Phillips,  Henry  Ward  Beecher  and  Ralph 
Waldo  Emerson  discuss  great  questions  in  a great 
way.  Today  the  buffoon  has  the  crowd.  The  Chau- 
tauqua of  old,  with  its  courses  of  genuine  study,  at- 
tracting the  multitude,  has  degenerated  into  a pious 
vaudeville.  Men  do  not  want  to  think.  They  can  not 
think.  They  have  not  been  taught  to  hold  their  minds 
to  anything  that  did  not  continue  to  interest  them.  Vol- 
untary, continuous  thinking  is  a burden  to  them.  But 
there  is  no  other  way  to  work  out  quality  in  thought  or 
character,  but  by  the  hard  way. 

We  have  new  problems  in  church  and  state  and 
school  and  domestic  life  to  solve.  We  need  some  men 
to  do  it.  We  need  men  who  do  not  stagger  along  on 
crutches,  lean  on  authorities,  follow  majorities;  not  the 
lazy  and  the  thriftless,  but  men  who  know  how  to  work, 
and  work  hard,  and  never  quit.  It  is  the  business  of 
the  college  to  demand  courses  strict  enough,  and  varied 
enough,  to  give  this  training.  By  our  modified  elective 
course,  with  its  system  of  majors  and  minors,  we  aim 
to  give  the  student  a symmetrical  development.  He 
must  take  enough  of  the  classics,  ancient  and  modern, 
to  give  that  indefinable  something  so  characteristic  of 
the  English  universities  which  we  call  culture.  He  must 
give  enough  time  to  the  study  of  the  sciences  to  produce 
something  of  that  which  is  characteristic  of  the  Ger- 
man system  of  education,  which  we  call  scholarship. 
And  yet  his  major  must  be  carried  far  enough  to  make 
him,  in  some  measure,  at  home  in  some  worthy  field  of 
scholarly  investigation. 

When  a student  has  taken  a particular  course  there 
are  two  tests  that  can  be  applied  to  it,  the  technical  and 


Inauguration  Exercises 


the  philosophical.  As  an  illustration : A student  has 
been  studying  a modern  language.  After  a reasonable 
length  of  time  it  is  fair  to  ask  for  results.  We  have  a 
right  to  expect  that  the  student  shall  be  able  to  inter- 
pret the  meaning  of  symbols  which  heretofore  were  no 
more  than  hieroglyphics.  Not  only  must  he  be  able  to 
read  the  language  with  a certain  degree  of  accuracy, 
but  he  should  be  able  to  put  simple  thoughts  of  his  own 
into  the  foreign  tongue.  Would  it  not  be  reasonable  to 
expect  him  to  understand  what  is  said  to  him  by  one 
speaking  that  language  and  make  suitable  reply  in  the 
language  of  the  interrogator?  This  is  the  technical  re- 
sult. Failure  to  meet  this  test  would  justify  a condem- 
nation of  the  method  of  the  teacher  or  the  ability  of  the 
student. 

But  there  is  also  a philosophical  test.  This  is  not 
quite  so  easy  of  application,  but  it  is  quite  as  real  and 
searching.  Suppose  that  the  course  has  been  one  in  his- 
tory. What  is  the  test?  Not  whether  the  student  re- 
members certain  dates  and  can  recite  unrelated  facts, 
but,  has  he  so  mastered  the  life  and  spirit  of  the  people 
and  age  which  he  has  been  studying  as  to  have  formed 
a reasonably  accurate  picture  of  the  civilization  of  that 
time?  Has  he  gone  beneath  the  surface  of  superficial 
facts  and  found  there  the  throbbing  life?  Can  he  in- 
terpret the  age  in  intelligible  terms?  This  requires 
thought  and  insight.  This  is  the  philosophical  test.  In 
some  measure  these  tests  are  applicable  to  every  course ; 
and  the  teacher  who  does  not  bring  satisfactory  results 
should  count  himself  incompetent. 

It  is  interesting  and  suggestive  to  note  that  the 
great  movements  which  have  lifted  a people  into  larger 
life,  when  wider  channels  have  been  made  for  the  flood 


Morningside  College 


of  humanity,  have  been  led  by  some  great  native  soul, 
The  foreign  missionary  may  be  the  initiating  force,  but 
he  can  never  be  the  ultimate  leader.  The  emancipator 
from  the  power  of  Egypt  was  learned  in  all  the  arts 
and  wisdom  of  the  Egyptian  schools.  The  Jew  who 
became  the  most  fearless  and  successful  missionary  of 
the  new  faith,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  was 
himself  a product  of  the  best  culture  of  the  Jewish 
schools.  It  was  out  of  the  best  schools  and  with  the 
best  training  that  the  historic  church  could  give,  that 
Martin  Luther  came  to  leadership.  It  was  from  the 
halls  of  Oxford,  where  he  had  won  scholarly  recogni- 
tion, that  John  Wesley  came  forth  to  be  the  teacher  of 
a more  vital  and  effective  type  of  Christianity.  The  man 
who  shall  pioneer  our  American  life  into  broader  hori- 
zons is  today  being  trained  for  his  task  in  one  of  our 
colleges.  The  cultured  child  of  today  will  be  our  leader 
of  tomorrow. 

The  Christian  ministry  was  the  goal  of  the  majority 
of  the  students  in  our  early  American  colleges.  This  is 
not  remarkable  when  we  remember  that  our  oldest  in- 
stitution, Harvard,  bears  the  name  of  a clergyman,  pas- 
tor of  Charlestown,  who,  at  his  death,  left  his  library 
and  one-half  of  his  estate  to  the  institution.  Yale  had 
similar  origin.  For  fifteen  years  the  instruction  was  per- 
formed by  clergymen  in  the  various  Connecticut  settle- 
ments and  their  class  rooms  were  their  own  studies. 
Dartmouth  was  founded  for  a missionary  purpose,  to 
care  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  Indians.  All  the 
pre-revolutionary  colleges  owe  their  founding  to  the 
religious  impulse.  In  fact,  no  other  impulse  is  basal 
enough  to  inspire  the  heroic  self-sacrifice  necessary  to 


Inauguration  Exercises 


bring  such  farsighted  results  from  pioneers  so  poor  and 
hedged  about  with  such  tremendous  difficulties. 

To  them  the  maintenance  of  the  institutions  of  re- 
ligion was  of  paramount  importance.  They  demanded  a 
cultivated  ministry.  Therefore  they  created  the  pro- 
genitors of  our  present  day  higher  institutions  of  learn- 
ing. 

Is  not  the  same  essential  need,  our  need?  Religious 
problems  still  hold  the  place  of  first  importance.  These 
subjects  are  not  academic.  They  are  not  age  worn.  We 
discuss  them  because  they  are  the  most  vital  questions 
before  thinking  men  today.  Some  conception  of  the 
trend  of  nineteenth  century  religious  thought  is  essen- 
tial to  a liberal  education.  Our  philosophy  of  the  uni- 
verse leads  us  back  through  all  the  phenomena  about  us 
to  a personal  world-ground,  the  Eternal  God.  It  is  im- 
possible to  discuss  vitally  the  deepest  problems  of  every- 
day life — the  social  and  domestic  and  civic  conditions 
that  surround  us — without  taking  into  account  this  fun- 
damental basis  of  all  our  thinking.  And  even  apart 
from  all  this,  I think  it  would  be  easy  to  maintain  that 
for  cultural  value  and  awakening  of  the  logical  powers, 
stirring  the  imagination  and  testing  the  largest  capacity 
for  self  expression,  no  subjects  are  superior  to  those 
which  deal  with  the  problems  of  the  religious  life.  So 
we  justify  on  purely  pedagogical  principles,  the  courses 
offered  in  Christian  ideals,  the  development  of  religious 
thought,  the  tracing  of  the  “Acts  of  the  Apostles”  in 
these  present  days.  While  our  conception  has  very 
greatly  broadened  and  we  are  maintaining  that  the  col- 
lege course  has  a value  as  well  for  the  merchant,  the 
lawyer,  the  physician,  the  editor,  as  for  the  clergyman, 
we  must  not  forget  that  that  spirit  of  the  olden  days 


Morningside  College 


is  as  necessary  as  ever.  The  truly  trained  man  of  this 
day  will  recognize  his  obligation  to  be  a Christian  min- 
ister, in  the  broader  sense.  He  may  carry  on  his  min- 
istry either  in  the  pulpit  or  out  of  it.  He  may  mingle 
in  political  battles,  lead  in  the  world  of  literature,  give 
his  message  through  musical  measures,  find  the  expres- 
sion of  his  life  through  brush  or  pencil,  but  the  true  col- 
lege man  will  feel  that  life  is  after  all,  at  its  best,  an  es- 
sentially Christian  ministry.  The  old  line  of  demarca- 
tion between  the  secular  and  sacred  has  largely  disap- 
peared. For  that  we  may  well  be  grateful.  It  was  at 
best  a fictitious  distinction  created  by  a misconception  of 
the  place  of  religion  in  the  daily  life;  and  we  question 
whether  any  institution  can  produce  the  best  in  its  stud- 
ent body  without  this  dominating  religious  ideal.  The 
chapel  service  is  not  an  unimportant  addendum,  a vest- 
ige of  archaic  days,  indicating  that  we  have  not  quite 
outgrown  the  prejudice  of  a cruder  age.  It  is  a recogni- 
tion that  that  which  is  truest  and  noblest  in  human  life 
will  never  be  brought  forth  except  by  men  who  have 
been  stirred  by  great  religious  ideals  and  purposes.  The 
hardest  fighter  is  the  Christian,  for  he  never  fights  until 
the  sense  of  holy  duty  is  upon  him  and  therefore  it  is 
impossible  to  surrender.  The  hardest  worker  is  the 
Christian,  for  he  is  an  idealist,  and,  making  his  work  a 
sacrament,  he  never  wearies.  The  finest  scholar  is  the 
Christian ; for,  to  all  prizes  which  allure  others  he  adds 
a bigger  one  than  they  all-— pleasing  Him  who  has  called 
him.  We  have  restated  our  creeds,  modified  our  meth- 
ods of  worship,  shifted  the  place  of  emphasis  in  life,  but 
we  have  not  outgrown  Christian  ideals  nor  found  a 
mightier  inspirer  of  man’s  noblest  than  the  Man  of  Gal- 
ilee. It  is  reasonable  that  we  should  recognize  the 


Inauguration  Exercises 


claims  of  the  Christian  ministry,  and  that  from  time  to 
time  they  should  be  presented  to  our  student  body.  Why 
not?  From  a thousand  sources  pressure  is  coming  upon 
these  young  people  to  turn  their  lives  into  other  profes- 
sions. The  cry  of  the  world  is  ever  upon  them,  and  it  is 
vigorously  enforced  by  bread  and  butter  considerations. 
Is  there  any  valid  reason  why  the  highest  and  most  un- 
selfish of  all  vocations  should  not  challenge  all  their 
latent  nobility?  We  have  a right  to  expect  our  colleges, 
established  under  Christian  auspices,  to'  do  their  best  to 
answer  the  cry  of  the  churches  for  leadership.  Men 
with  trained  minds  as  well  as  consecrated  hearts  must 
be  persuaded  to  respond  to  this  supreme  opportunity  for 
service. 

Far  more  effective  than  any  systematic  teaching  of 
Christian  ethics  is  the  exemplification  of  the  true  ethical 
spirit  in  the  character  of  the  teachers.  Mark  Hopkins  on 
one  end  of  the  log  and  James  Garfield  on  the  other,  may 
not  perfectly  describe  the  modern  college,  but  it  cer- 
tainly puts  in  graphic  form  one  of  the  essentials  of  the 
modern  college,  and  perhaps  I may  say  the  essential. 
You  have  here  an  earnest  student,  anxiousfy  desiring  to 
know  how  to  realize  his  best  in  life,  and  you  have  a 
great-hearted,  broad-minded,  sympathetic  gentleman  try- 
ing to  solve  the  problem  and  trying  to  place  his  larger 
experience  and  riper  wisdom  at  the  service  of  the  student. 
Without  these,  in  essence,  you  cannot  have  a college. 

President  Dwight,  of  Yale,  in  his  last  report  laid 
emphasis  upon  the  obligation  of  the  teacher  to  make  the 
acquaintance  of  his  students  individually,  saying:  “The 
teacher  who  sees  his  student  only  during  the  class  exer- 
cises is  failing  to  do  the  most  essential  work.  Our  pride 
in  numbers  makes  this  all  the  more  serious.  The  fact 


Morningside  College 


that  the  professor  can  be  seen  at  certain  times  is  not 
enough,  for  the  men  who  need  this  most  are  the  very 
ones  who  will  not  come  when  they  are  invited.”  Infor- 
mation may  be  gotten  from  a text  book,  skill  acquired  in 
the  laboratory,  more  learning  come  from  the  lecturer, 
facts  secured  in  a hundred  different  ways,  but  that  which 
peculiarly  distinguishes  the  college — inspiration,  life,  en- 
thusiasm, ideals — comes  only  by  contact,  by  fellowship, 
sympathy  and  personal  touch.  Was  it  not  this  which 
made  the  great  colleges  of  the  days  gone  by?  Or  rather 
was  it  not  this  element,  splendidly  realized,  that  pro- 
duced from  those  colleges  the  men  whose  names  stand 
as  beacon  lights?  Are  we  not  all  conscious  that  the 
richest  and  best  things  that  ever  come  to  us  in  our  col- 
lege career  were  not  the  products  of  the  scholarship  of 
those  who  taught  us,  but  the  personal  touch  and  inspir- 
ation that  came  to  our  lives  from  their  fellowship  ? The 
value  of  the  college  course  is  much  more  largely  deter- 
mined by  the  amount  of  the  teacher  than  the  amount  of 
the  book  that  gets  into  one’s  life.  The  plastic  years  of 
college  life  are  peculiarly  susceptible  to  this  kind  of  in- 
fluence. There  may  be  some  more  alluring  work  for  a 
man  who  aspires  to  project  his  personality  into  the  gen- 
erations to  come  than  contact  with  the  growing  youth 
in  our  colleges,  but  I have  never  heard  about  it.  We  do 
not  remember  so  well  the  subjects  we  were  taught  as  we 
remember  what  those  men  were  who  taught  us.  It  would 
not  be  possible  for  us  today  to  solve  the  problems  in 
mathematics,  or  translate  the  passages  from  the  classics, 
or  clearly  state  the  logical  processes  by  which  we  came 
to  certain  metaphysical  conclusions,  but  we  shall  never 
forget  what  our  teachers  were  and  how  their  great  warm 


Inauguration  Exercises 


souls  found  ours  and  warmed  them  into  life  and  made 
us  think  and  love  and  aspire  after  the  best. 

Dr.  Thwing  sets  us  thinking  when  he  tells  us  that 
“From  the  discipline  of  a single  college  and  from  the 
tuition  of  a certain  teacher  of  English  in  this  college 
were  reared  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  Andrew  P.  Pea- 
body, Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  Charles  Sumner,  John 
Lothrop  Motley,  Richard  Henry  Dana,  James  Russell 
Lowell,  Henry  D.  Thoreau,  Edward  Everett  Hale, 
Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson  and  Charles  Elliott  Nor- 
ton. At  the  present  time  in  this  college,  having  many 
teachers  of  English,  no  such  persons  are  appearing. 
What  is  the  reason  that  under  the  great  Channing  so 
many  great  writers  and  at  the  present  time  so  few 
great  writers  are  appearing.” 

May  the  answer  not  be  found  in  large  part  in  the 
distance  between  the  teacher  and  the  student?  The  size 
of  the  college  is  not  the  main  determining  factor,  but  the 
question  as  to  how  earnestly  the  teaching  force  seeks 
to  face  and  solve  the  difficulty. 

In  the  old  fashioned  college  the  chief  executive 
found  time  to  work  in  the  class  room.  You  remember 
that  the  fondly  anticipated  climax  of  the  whole  course, 
to  which  the  student  looked  forward  from  the  begin- 
ning, was  the  day  when  he  should  sit  in  the  class  room 
under  the  president.  I fear  that,  from  the  higher  stand- 
point, these  days  in  which  the  president  is  altogether 
absorbed  in  the  problems  of  finance  are  days  decadent. 
If  he  is  really  worth  while,  he  ought  to  have  the  oppor- 
tunity to  touch  in  a personal  and  vital  way  the  souls  of 
those  who  are  temporarily  committed  to  his  guidance. 
Here  is  our  legitimate  field  of  competition ; not  to  vie 
with  one  another  in  extent  of  acreage,  or  magnificence 


Morningside  College 


of  structure,  or  even  magnitude  of  library  or  complete- 
ness of  laboratory  equipment.  It  is  not  even  a question 
of-  the  scholastic  attainments  of  the  faculty.  We  are 
rather  to  compete  in  those  higher  realms.  The  problem 
is  to  bring  such  quality  of  heart  and  soul  into  the  class 
room  as  shall  develop  in  the  student  the  deepest  and 
truest  character. 

Our  Christianity  must  have  an  intellectual  basis  and 
be  ready  to  defend  itself  in  the  court  of  reason.  We  are 
no  longer  able  to  appeal  with  confidence  to  established 
authority,  however  hoary  it  may  be  with  age  and  how- 
ever venerable  in  the  eyes  of  devotees.  The  man  who 
will  meet  the  stress  and  strain  of  the  coming  generation 
must  have  not  only  good  purpose,  but  sound  reason  as 
foundation  and  buttress.  Mere  enthusiasm  makes  the 
fanatic,  mere  logical  process  makes  cold  and  unsympa- 
thetic intellectuality,  but  intellectual  and  moral  purpose 
blended  produces  the  man  of  courage,  conviction  and 
leadership. 

When  the  moral  atmosphere  of  the  modern  college 
is  criticised,  certain  extenuating  considerations  are  not 
given  their  just  weight.  We  must  remember  that  the 
college  atmosphere  is  created  by  individual  elements. 
These  elements  have  come  from  the  homes  of  the  people. 
In  some  cases  these  homes  have  done  little  or  nothing 
to  develop  noble  ideals.  Parents  who  have  never  con- 
trolled their  children  at  home  send  them  to  college,  hop- 
ing that  the  authorities  will  be  able  to  do  what  the  home 
ought  to  have  done.  The  college  authorities  are  then 
most  ungraciously  criticised  for  not  doing  in  a month 
what  the  home  has  failed  to  do  in  eighteen  years.  These 
heterogeneous  elements  do  not  seem  to  coalesce.  They 
are  insolubles.  They  move  around  in  the  atmosphere  of 


Inauguration  Exercises 


the  institution  unaffected,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  by  the 
conditions.  In  spite  of  all  this  it  is  only  fair  to  say  that 
the  students  in  our  colleges  are  in  a better  moral  at- 
mosphere than  they  will  ever  be  again  in  all  their  lives. 
It  cannot  be  maintained  for  a moment  that  the  spirit  of 
the  business  or  professional  or  social  world  into  which 
they  are  going  begins  to  have  the  moral  inspiration  and 
the  purity  of  ideal  found  in  the  modern  college,  even 
with  all  its  limitations. 

The  place  of  athletics  in  the  life  of  the  modern  col- 
lege is,  I think,  coming  to  be  more  rationally  interpreted. 
That  men  have  bodies  as  well  as  minds  we  must  under- 
stand, and  the  problem  of  the  college  is  to  develop  to 
its  very  best  the  whole  person.  In  this  general  develop- 
ment, of  course,  the  body  must  be  recognized.  There 
has  undoubtedly  been  tendency  to  place  undue  empha- 
sis upon  the  physical  side  and  a man  of  unusual  physical 
ability  has  been  given  consideration  that  would  not  have 
been  allowed  a classmate  of  inferior  proportions.  In  so 
far  as  athletics  contribute  to  the  deeper  and  larger  mental 
and  moral  life,  in  as  much  as  they  make  a basis  for  big, 
strong,  manly  work  in  the  years  to  come,  they  should  have 
recognition  and  cultivation.  In  so  far  as  they  administer 
to  professionalism  and  succumb  to  the  mercantile  spirit 
of  the  age,  they  are  utterly  abhorrent  to  the  best  col- 
legiate ideals.  In  working  out  the  athletic  side  of  an  in- 
stitution the  bearing  upon  intellectual  and  moral  develop- 
ment must  be  the  uppermost  consideration.  The  coarse, 
dissolute  rowdy  has  no  place  in  the  college  and  the  hood- 
lum making  night'  hideous,  frequenting  the  saloons  and 
dives  of  the  city,  devoid  of  any  merit  other  than  his  un- 
earned physique,  should  be  eliminated. 

No  institution  in  America  has  larger  opportunity 


Morningside  College 


to  vitally  affect  the  civilization  of  the  coming  decades 
than  our  own  Morningside,  located  in  the  northern  por- 
tion of  this  great  central  valley,  the  most  productive  on 
the  American  continent,  at  the  very  point  where  the 
noble  Missouri,  hitherto  a comparatively  insignificant 
stream,  broadens  into  great  dimensions  and  becomes  a 
mighty  factor  in  the  development  of  the  land.  Hither 
comes  the  earnest  and  ardent  pioneer  from  the  better 
countries  of  the  old  world.  They  are  not  the  retrogress- 
ive and  the  vice-poisoned  from  the  great  cities,  seeking 
other  great  cities  with  their  attendant  vice  and  conse- 
quent corruption.  They  are  liberty-loving,  land-loving, 
fresh-air-loving,  God-fearing  people,  who  are  here  to 
make  for  themselves  and  for  their  children  permanent 
homes.  To  our  student  body  they  are  coming.  I do 
not  know  how  many  races  and  nationalities  are  repre- 
sented with  us  here  today.  I do  know  that  we  have 
the  Scandinavian  with  the  hot  Norse  blood  flowing  with 
undiminished  vigor,  panting  for  new  worlds  to  conquer 
and  new  problems  to  solve.  We  have  the  sturdy  Ger- 
man, with  his  genius  for  accumulation  and  persistent 
toil,  hesitating  at  no  amount  of  drudgery  in  order  that 
he  may  attain  the  worthy  end.  We  have  the  Russian, 
breathing  the  larger  liberty  of  the  new  land.  We  have 
representatives  of  practically  all  the  great  races  and  types 
of  civilization.  Children  from  the  Orient  and  from  the 
Occident  sit  in  class  here  side  by  side,  each  a stimulus 
to  the  other  and  all  planning  and  working  to  make  for 
themselves  lives  of  serviceable  respectability,  and  at  the 
same  time  contributing  to  the  development  of  a noble 
and  permanent  civilization.  This  accumulation  of  strong, 
vigorous,  virile  manhood  and  womanhood  means  a center 
of  influence  second  to  none  in  shaping  the  ideals  of  this 


Inauguration  Exercises 


strategic  locality  for  the  next  generation.  These  young 
men  will  go  on  to  these  plains  and  prairies  and  into 
these  developing  cities  to  make  clean  social  and  civic 
life.  These  young  women  will  go  out  to  honor  them- 
selves and  their  Alma  Mater  as  teachers  in  our  schools 
and  mothers  in  our  homes  and  queens  in  the  best  social 
life  of  the  new  republic. 

Iowa  is  the  Puritan  state  of  these  modern  days.  Out 
of  the  old  Puritanism  came  our  best  literature,  the  larg- 
est contributions  to  philosophical  and  religious  thought, 
and  the  most  progressive  statesmanship  of  the  past  gen- 
eration. New  England  gave  to  America  its  poets,  its 
historians,  its  philosophers,  its  orators,  its  great  national 
leaders,  but  the  power  to  render  this  high  service  has 
been  transferred,  in  the  movement  of  the  great  popu- 
lations, from  the  east  to  the  west,  and  this  Missouri 
valley  is  the  logical  successor  of  the  Puritanism  of  the 
past.  No  one  will  question  the  eminent  quality  of  the 
products  we  have  been  pouring  forth  into  the  world  of 
finance  and  utilitarian  education,  and  certainly  no  sec- 
tion has  been  even  a serious  competitor  in  the  variety 
and  virility  of  political  output.  We  have  the  physical 
basis  to  enable  this  valley  to  become  the  dominating  in- 
tellectual force  of  all  this  western  empire.  These  con- 
secrated men  and  women  are  asking  that  they  be  given 
the  privilege  of  helping  to  shape  this  civilization  in  ac- 
cordance with  Christian  ideals.  They  are  asking  that 
libraries,  laboratories  and  equipment  in  buildings,  ade- 
quate to  the  need,  shall  be  placed  at  their  disposal.  They 
are  gladly  and  loyally  giving  their  lives,  enamoured  as 
they  are  of  the  possibility  of  projecting  themselves 
through  those  whom  they  teach  into  the  generations  to 


come. 


M orningside  College 


We  gratefully  acknowledge  the  significant  courtesy 
of  the  presence  of  these  cultured  representatives  from 
the  older  colleges  and  universities.  Your  sympathy  is 
an  inspiration.  Your  noble  achievements  goad  us  night 
and  day.  What  you  are  to  your  constituency  we  pray 
we  may  increasingly  become  to  those  who  look  to  us 
for  leadership.  We  salute  you  in  the  name  of  our  com- 
mon purpose,  our  common  country,  our  common  Master. 

ADDRESS — Bishop  Wiujam  F.  McDowexp,  D.  D., 

LL.  D. 

Dr.  Stuart: 

The  next  speaker  was  at  one  time  Chancellor  of 
Denver  University  and  when  he  read  in  this  morning’s 
paper  that  the  President  of  Denver  University  had  a 
student  strike  on  his  hands  because  he  refused  to  give 
the  boys  a holiday  after  winning  a football  game,  said, 
“I  was  nine  years  at  the  head  of  that  school  and  never 
had  a strike  on  my  hands,  all  through  the  simple  fact  of 
never  having  a football  team  th’at  won  a victory.” 

The  man  who  can  make  a success  of  a college  under 
those  conditions,  you  will  agree  with  me,  is  by  way  of 
pre-eminence  worthy  of  being  Chancellor  of  any  uni- 
versity. More  than  that,  after  that  he  was  transferred 
to  the  Board  of  Education,  where  for  five  years  he 
brought  trained  intelligence  and  full,  warm-hearted  sym- 
pathy to  the  problems  of  our  denominational  education, 
and  in  that  time  he  won  honorable  distinction  as  primus 
inter  pares.  I give  you  that  fine  bit  of  literature  for  Dr. 
Schell’s  benefit,  and  when  he  goes  back  home  and  finds 
it  in  the  back  of  Webster’s  Unabridged  Dictionary,  he 
will  think  twice  before  he  assigns  another  learned  scholar 
to  the  Ananias  Club. 


Inauguration  Exercises 


It  is  with  great  pleasure  I present  to  you  Bishop 
McDowell,  who  is  no  stranger  to  the  Methodist  colleges 
of  Iowa  and  its  educators,  who  will  give  a word  to  the 
newest  and  one  of  the  most  promising  college  presidents 
in  the  Methodist  world. 

Bishop  McDowell: 

Mr.  President,  Mr.  New  President,  and  very  dear 
friends : I count  myself  highly  honored  to  be  permitted 
to  add  a word  at  the  close  of  these  notable  services.  I 
am  speaking  not  simply  in  my  own  behalf.  It  is  true, 
as  Dr.  Stuart  says,  that  for  a period  of  nine  years  I 
was  myself  a University  Chancellor ; in  other  words,  I 
was  not  always  a Bishop,  I led  a perfectly  respectable 
life  for  years,  and  I am  giving  myself  the  joy  today  of 
wearing  this  particularly  gorgeous  hood  because  it  is  the 
hood  of  that  particular  institution  of  which  I was  for 
nine  years  an  officer.  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  could 
hardly  have  beaten  this.  (Applause.) 

I speak,  therefore,  with  that  recollection ; I speak 
also  in  behalf  of  the  Board  of  Educators  of  the  Church, 
of  which  unhappily,  because  of  the  death  of  Bishop 
Goodsell,  I have  the  honor  to  be  President.  I speak  in 
behalf  of  those,  whom  it  would  be  disrespectful  to  refer 
to  in  any  other  way  than  by  calling  them  my  “colleagues.” 
That  is  the  official  term. 

I bring  the  greetings  of  the  Board  of  Bishops  who 
are  always  more  concerned  about  a good  college  presi- 
dent than  about  almost  any  other  thing  because  sooner 
or  later  most  of  them  themselves  become  “colleagues” ; 
and  may  I add  that  I have  a personal  satisfaction  in 
seeming,  in  a small  way  to  represent,  the  former  Presi- 
dent of  Morningside  College,  now  a member  of  the 


Morningside  College 


Board  to  which  I myself  belong.  May  God  bless  him 
and  establish  the  work  of  his  hands  everywhere  in  the 
world. 

Still  further  may  I add  that  the  blood  of  Boston 
University  flows  in  the  veins  of  President  Freeman  and 
myself,  and  I am  thinking  today  of  the  pride  of  our  dear 
mother  school  and  the  teachers  whose  hearts  are  with 
us  today.  Then,  there  is  a tenderer  cord  than  all  of  this. 
I am  thinking  of  two  gracious  women,  once  parishion- 
ers of  mine  (relatives  of  yours,  Dr.  Freeman),  knowing 
how,  in  whatever  world  they  may  be,  they  are  interested 
in  you,  deeply  concerned  in  all  the  honor  that  comes  to 
you  here.  Heaven  bless  you. 

I have  been  here  a whole  lot  of  times  at  Morning- 
side.  I dedicated  the  other  building,  the  college  build- 
ing; that  was  in  the  days  when  I was  a Secretary.  I 
dedicated  this  church  two  or  three  years  ago,  and  now  I 
have  come  out  to  dedicate  you.  I seem  to  be  just  going 
around  in  this  business  of  dedicating  buildings  and  men 
at  Morningside,  and  I say  that  not  at  all  with  any  sense 
of  its  being  a pleasantry;  for  after  all,  that  is  precisely 
what  I am  hoping  to  do,  as  far  as  it  is  possible  for  one 
man  to  perform  that  service  to  another. 

If  I were  to  take  a single  text  for  all  that  is  in  my 
heart  with  reference  to  this  occasion  today ; if  I were  to 
offer  a single  word  to  my  dear  friend,  the  new  President, 
as  his  motto,  for  the  great  work  into  which  he  has  been 
formally  inducted,  it  would  be  what  I conceive  to  be  the 
very  finest  statement  ever  made  of  a college  president’s 
relations  to  those  whom  he  would  serve.  You  would 
naturally  expect  I should  take  these  words  from  the  one 
person,  who  having  spoken  in  this  world,  has  spoken 
the  most  perfectly  in  this  world,  and  this  is  the  word: 


Inauguration  Exercises 


“For  their  salces  I sanctify  myself  that  they  may  be 
sanctified  through  me.” 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  Presidents  of  Colleges,  Deans 
and  Professors  of  Colleges,  the  greatest  teacher,  the 
greatest  minister  who  is  and  ever  will  be  the  idol  and 
ideal  and  lord  and  leader  of  the  highest  educational 
thought -process  said  it  in  that  sentence : “For  himself 
and  all  the  rest  of  us  to  the  end  of  time.” 

The  college  president  does  not  exist  for  his  own 
sake.  It  is  easy  for  him  to  mix  his  pronouns ; but  one 
who  can  keep  his  pronouns  straight  in  this  world  has  al- 
ready gone  a long  way  toward  high  success  in  this 
world.  “For  their  sakes  I sanctify  myself.”  It  is  not 
stated  that  “For  my  sake  I sanctify  them,”  but  “For 
their  sakes.”  This  is  Christlike  and  “For  their  sakes” 
I make  myself  fit  and  fine.  “For  their  sakes”  I offer 
myself  up.  “For  their  sakes”  I walk  the  rough  way. 
“For  their  sakes”  I battle  with  evil  until  it  is  beaten. 
“For  their  sakes”  I climb  at  last  the  low  hill  outside  the 
gate  with  the  cross  upon  my  shoulders.  “For  their 
sakes”  I,  having  made  myself  fit  and  having  kept  my- 
self unspotted  offer  myself  up  that  they  may  be  sancti- 
fied in  the  truth. 

Oh,  it  is  not  the  entrance  of  another  man  into  an- 
other job  that  you  witness  this  day.  It  is  not  the  ac- 
ceptance by  another  man  of  another  position  that  you 
witness  this  day.  It  is  not  the  bringing  together  of  an 
individual  and  a position  that  you  witness  this  day.  It 
is  not  a formal  contract  between  a man  and  the  Board 
that  you  witness  this  day;  this  occasion  is  lifted  high 
and  far  above  all  of  that.  It  is  the  coming  of  a man  in 
the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ,  walking  in  the  footsteps  of 
Jesus  Christ,  into  a new  practice  of  the  life  of  Jesus 


Morningside  College 


Christ’;  the  practice  of  incarnation  that  puts  strength  at 
the  service  of  weakness ; light  into  darkness  that  dark- 
ness may  be  banished,  goodness  into  life  that  life  may 
be  clean,  holiness  into  evil  that  evil  may  be  removed ; the 
putting  of  all  that  is  good  into  the  midst  of  all  that  is 
wrong,  that  wrong  may  cease  to  be. 

It  is  a kind  of  sacramental  occasion  that  brings  it 
up  to  shining  heights  above  all  low  and  sordid  relations 
and  brings  God’s  blessing  down  upon  it. 

“That  they  may  be  sanctified  in  the  truth,  I came 
among  men.”  Mr.  President,  there  have  been  many 
theories  of  truth  as  you  well  know.  To  the  artist  truth 
relates  itself  to  those  fine  forms  that  make  artistic 
beauty.  To  the  scientist,  truth  is  a body  of  facts  for 
observation,  classification  and  reason.  To  the  philosopher 
truth  is  a body  of  principles.  To  the  theologian  a body 
of  doctrine.  To  the  man  of  life  truth  is  that  personal 
acquaintance  that  sets  men  free.  This  that  you  have 
entered  into  today  has  to  do  with  this  whole  splendid 
range ; truth  as  fact,  truth  as  philosophy,  truth  as  doc- 
trine, truth  as  that  liberating  power  that  makes  new 
manhood  and  womanhood  in  a world  where  new  men 
and  new  women  are  needed  and  it  brings  you  into  fel- 
lowship with  one  who  said,  speaking  of  himself,  “you 
shall  know  the  Truth  and  the  Truth  shall  set  you  free.” 

It  is  good  to  be  a part  of  an  occasion  like  this,  as 
you  can  see;  for  we  do  tremendously  need  all  the  time 
those  occasions  that  keep  our  ideals  fresh ; that  blow  the 
dust,  that  constantly  tends  to  gather  upon  ideals,  off 
these  ideals,  in  a world  where,  if  we  lose  our  ideals,  we 
are  utterly  lost. 

It  is  good  to  be  a part  of  an  occasion  like  this.  I 
suppose  Morningside  is  not  a very  large  college,  and  I 


Inauguration  Exercises 


suppose  it  has  been  smaller  than  it  is,  but  I suppose  it 
will  be  larger  than  it  is;  but  I am  not  thinking  par- 
ticularly of  its  size,  past,  or  present,  or  future.  I am 
thinking  of  its  relation  to  reality,  of  its  relation  to  eternal 
vitality.  I am  thinking  of  its  relation  to  life.  I am 
thinking  of  what  it  will  ask  of  the  community.  I am 
recalling,  Mr.  Perkins,  the  day  when  we  dedicated  the 
college  building,  when  Bishop  Lewis,  then  President 
Lewis,  had  labored  and  labored  until  his  back  was  just 
about  broken,  and  still  there  was  not  money  enough  to 
pay  that  bill.  He  did  not  see  what  would  happen,  and 
those  of  us  then  seated  on  the  platform,  heard  a rustling 
and  looked  around  and  there  stood  thirty  of  you  men. 
You  had  already  given  of  your  hard  earned  money, 
and  made  the  building  so  far  possible.  Thirty  men,  as 
I recall,  were  standing  up  behind  us  on  the  platform. 
One  said,  “Mr.  President,  we  thirty  men  here  want  to 
add  $100  apiece  to  make  $3,000  to  finish  this  job.  Now 
you  will  just  be  happy.” 

I am  thinking  how  you  have  done  it  all  the  way 
through,  you  and  others  like  you.  I am  thinking  what 
you  are  asking  of  the  community  and  what  you  will 
have  to  ask  of  the  community.  All  this  is  important 
and  I am  thinking  of  the  language  of  Eliot,  of  Harvard : 
“What  return  you  will  make  to  the  community.”  “The 
University,”  he  said,  “will  make  to  the  community  rich 
returns  of  poetry ; it  will  make  life  more  beautiful ; it 
will  make  life  more  holy;  it  will  make  life  more  right- 
eous ; it  will  make  life  more  intelligent,  and  all  that  fine 
sense  of  civic  duty  without  which  life  would  be  im- 
possible.” 

You  have  gone  into  the  presidency  of  an  institu- 
tion which  proposes  to  take  gold  and  transform  it  into 


Morningside  College 


character,  silver  into  service,  and  all  that  is  material  into 
all  that  is  good;  and  that  is  about  the  finest  thing  that 
the  old  world  has  to  offer.  It  is  a fine  thing  to  see  that. 
There  are  plenty  of  people  who  see  dollars  (I  mean 
when  they  get  a chance).  Now  everybody  can  see  be- 
yond the  dollars  to  the  deeds  which  the  dollars  may 
perform.  It  takes  an  acute  vision  to  see  beyond  things 
to  that  larger  use  and  its  finer  and  better  outcome. 

You  remember  Henry  Crosby’s  characterization  of 
those  two  brothers  in  the  old  Testament.  They  repre- 
sent two  types  always  with  us.  Then  he  made  a classical 
pun.  It  is  doubtful  if  it  is  proper  to  make  classical  puns 
on  a day  like  this ; but  as  we  were  coming  along  this 
morning  with  the  wind  blowing,  I think  the  men  wear- 
ing gowns  wished  they  were  hobble  skirts.  As  we  were 
coming  along  this  morning,  one  of  the  men  said  it  was 
a “gala”  day.  Crosby  spoke  of  two  types  of  men  and 
said  it  was  illustrated  in  two  brothers  of  the  old  Testa- 
ment. He  said  of  them,  “Esau  saw  what  he  saw.”  Any- 
body can ; but  “Israel  saw  what  ‘is  real’.” 

It  is  a part  of  the  college  to  keep  the  eternal  question 
constantly  uppermost  and  maintain  the  ability  to  see  be- 
yond the  things  which  lie  before  our  eye.  One  of  my 
colleagues,  a college  president  himself,  has  made  use  of 
this  fine  sentence.  “Money  is  not  worth  anything  in 
this  world  until  it  has  bought  something  better  than 
money.”  I do  not  know  but  it  will  come  to  you  to  re- 
deem northwest  Iowa  farms  from  being  simply  farms, 
and  northwest  Iowa  factories  from  being  simply  fac- 
tories, and  northwest  Iowa  wealth  from  being  simple 
wealth,  and  make  farm  places  into  simple  men  and 
women  and  factories  into  institutions,  which,  co-oper- 
ating with  Morningside,  shall  create  character,  and 


Inauguration  Exercises 


banks,  those  treasures  of  that  larger  wealth,  which  is 
represented  in  human  personality. 

Mr.  President,  I am  thinking  again  of  the  men 
whom  we  have  known.  I am  thinking  of  those  at  whose 
feet  we  have  sat.  I am  thinking  of  blessings  that  come 
to  you  today  from  men,  and  I am  wishing  for  you  that 
something  of  Warren’s  grace,  and  devotion  to  truth 
may  be  yours  forever,  and  I am  wishing  for  you  that 
something  of  boundless  insight  into  truth,  and  marvel- 
ous skill  in  the  statement  of  truth  shall  be  yours  for- 
ever. 

I am  thinking  chiefly  not  of  those  but  of  Him  who 
said  those  words  I have  already  quoted,  “For  their 
sakes  I sanctify  myself  that  they  may  be  sanctified 
through  me,”  and  because  you  are  coming  into  this  kind 
of  a position  and  this  kind  of  companionship  and  this 
kind  of  a privilege,  I hail  you  with  a high  heartiness 
and  a joy  in  your  opportunity  that  I cannot  tell  in  words. 

May  the  blessings  of  earth  and  Heaven  be  yours, 
and  the  College’s,  and  the  Church’s,  in  the  world  for 
ever  and  ever. 

BENEDICTION — Rev.  William  Campbell  Wasser, 

Ph.  D. 

Dr.  Wasser: 

And  now  unto  Him  who  is  able  to  do  exceedingly 
abundantly,  above  all  we  can  ask  or  think,  according  to 
the  power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  Him  be  glory  in  the 
Church  throughout  all  ages.  Amen. 

Organ  Postlude — March  from  Tannhauser Wagner 

Professor  Orwin  Allison  Morse,  A.  A.  G.  O. 


Diversity 


OF  ,l~LlNQiS 


